Cadila Pharmaceuticals, on Thursday, launched a new lung cancer drug, Mycidac-C. The drug is priced at Rs.40,000 for a 10-course injection, much cheaper than the drugs manufactured and sold in the market by multinational companies at present.
The drug, which will be available in the market in India early next month, has been developed by Cadila after 15 years of research. The new drug has been licensed and approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
Mycidac-C is meant for patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
ADVERTISEMENT
“The drug is affordable, and is many times cheaper than what out competitors are offering. We have invested heavily and took thousands of scientific hours and millions of experiment to develop the drug,’’ Cadila Pharmaceuticals Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv I. Modi told reporters here.
Giving a comparison on the affordability of Mycidac-C, he said Roche’s Avastin, which is also used for similar treatment, costs Rs.37,000 for a single vial, while the new drug from Cadila will cost Rs.40,000 for a full course of 10 injections required during chemotherapy.
For the developed market such as the U.S., the U.K. and Japan, the company was looking for a partnership. The company was targeting Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia also as its market. “Outside India, it would take some times as process of obtaining licence from each different country would be started and it may take time,’’ Mr Modi said.
ADVERTISEMENT
He further added that during the development, the entire trail was based on approved protocol of U.S. drug regulator Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
“I hope that they would except the drug as the entire development was done based on their (USFDA) protocol,’’ Mr Modi said. In Africa and Southeast Asia, Cadila would sell the drug on its own.
The drug would be manufactured at the Cadila’s Dholka facility near Ahmedabad, in Gujarat.