Tata Group's Advinus Therapeutics has penned down an agreement with Japan-based drug giant Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. to start a three-year R&D collaboration.

Under the terms of the agreement, Takeda will give Advinus guaranteed research funding of $36 million to help it explore novel molecules in the various areas, including inflammatory diseases, central nervous system and metabolic diseases.

In addition, the India firm will receive $9 million in milestone payment leading to candidate selection, and milestone payments of up to $45 million per product. Plus, it will receive royalties on worldwide product sales.

Advinus will be responsible for leading the programs to produce optimal investigational new drug ready compounds for the pre-defined targets.

Expressing excitement over the deal, Takeda said, "We are very excited to partner with Advinus as they have innovative approaches to efficiently generate INDs (investigational new drug) that will further strengthen Takeda's drug discovery capabilities."

The deal indicates multinational companies' (MNC's) increasing interest in Indian drug research.

It takes around twelve years for a drug company to take a drug from research tablet to store shelves in the market, and only companies with huge finances manage to remain afloat in such high-risk business.