Indian-American Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria expands presence in US healthcare segment

NEW DELHI: Delhi-born Indian-American Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria, who plans to set up a final assembly unit for eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) air taxis in India before the end of this decade, is increasing his presence in American healthcare segment. “Our biopharma company has announced a public market transaction (in the US). There is very significant Indian involvement. I am the executive chairman and founder and the other party, Aesther's chairman and CEO is also Indian. We timed the announcement for today to coincide with Ganesha Chaturthi,” Kathuria told TOI on Wednesday.

Aesther Healthcare Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, has entered into an agreement and plan of merger with Ocean Biomedical Inc, a next-gen biopharma company. The combined company “will work to accelerate the development of Ocean Biomedical’s core assets in oncology, fibrosis, and infectious diseases, all based on new target discoveries enabling first-in-class drug and vaccine candidates – developed through past and ongoing grants totalling $123.9 million,” it said in a statement.

Upon closing of the merger transaction, Ocean Biomedical will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Aesther and Aesther will change its name to Ocean Biomedical. Ocean Biomedical was co-founded by Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria MD, an investor, physician, and entrepreneur who is a graduate of Brown University’s Alpert School of Medicine, and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Suren Ajjarapu, Chairman and CEO of Aesther, said: “The world is on the cusp of a new era in biomedicine, and we are excited to be teaming up with a biopharma company that has both cutting-edge science and an innovative business model. We think that combination will result in positive valuations and long term growth, as we continually focus on identifying and accelerating promising discoveries.” Following the closing of the proposed Transaction, Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria will serve as the chairman of the board of directors which will consist of nine members.

US aerospace company Jaunt Air Mobility has decided to set up a final assembly unit for eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) air taxis in India before the end of this decade. The company had recently tied up with L&T Technology Services Ltd to develop this urban air mobility (UAM) solution. It aims to get certification from Canadian, US and EU aviation regulators for the same by 2026 and then start delivering the $1.5 million apiece air taxis from its North American assembly.

The second assembly unit it has decided will be in India that will make the air taxis for use in the country and as well as for export to South Asia. Jaunt is part of AIRO Group that was founded by Delhi-born Indian-American Chirinjeev Kathuria who is also the chairman of the conglomerate. “We have big plans for India and the market here is very big. We will be speaking to the biggest Indian groups like Tata and Mahindra to partner with us for the eVTOL business. There will be a significant demand for eVTOL for urban air mobility given the congestion in Indian cities. A drive between Bengaluru Airport and the Electronic City can take upto two hours or over an hour between Mumbai Airport and downtown (Nariman Point). An eVTOL will be perfect for these and many more urban routes,” Kathuria had recently told TOI from the US.

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