Intas launches low cost drug for cancer treatment

Ahmedabad: Intas Pharmaceutical today said it has launched `Mabtas` a new low cost drug for treating cancer in India. "Mabtas, is a biosimilar version of Rituximab, a type of protein therapy for treatment of cancer. It makes treatment cheaper by between Rs 20,000 to 50,000 as compared to existing similar drugs in the market," Intas Biopharmaceuticals Vice President R&D Dr Himanshu Gadgil said.

The company is third one in India to launch such a biosimilar after pharmaceutical companies like Roche and Dr Reddy. The new drug competes with biosimilars like Restova and Reditux, already available in market for last many years. "It is third such biosimilar now available in Indian market. It costs around Rs 41,800 per cycle, for treating cancer patients, who have to be administered dosages in six cycles," he said. Biosimilars, are biologic medical products whose active drug substance is made by a living organism or derived from a living organism by means of recombinant DNA or controlled gene expression methods. "The multi centric trials conducted on 101 patients has proven its efficacy as well as safety. The drug can be used for treating Non-Hodgkin`s Lymphoma (blood cancer) and Rheumatoid Arthritis," Gadgil said. "The drug has potential to cure lymphoma even in very advanced stage...The success rate of this therapy is high," a company doctor claimed. Intas, recently received European Union-Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) certification, for manufacturing recombinant biologics. According to industry estimates, around 50,000 new patients of Lymphoma (cancer) get added in India every year. The market size of such cancer treating drugs is pegged around Rs 110-120 crore. PTI