BackBiocon launches psoriasis drug
India approved Alzumab for treating plaque psoriasis earlier this year
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Bangalore: Statins and insulin maker Biocon Ltd said it would launch its novel biologic Alzumab in India for the treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis, a skin disease which afflicts 1-2% of the country’s population.
The 24-week, 40 vial treatment is priced at Rs7950 per vial, which is at least 50% lower than competing drugs, chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told reporters.
Other drugs for treating psoriasis include Enbrel, co-marketed by Amgen and Pfizer, and J&J’s Stelara.
“Alzumab offers superior safety and similar efficacy profile compared to other existing therapies, and has long remission period with low opportunistic infection rate," Biocon said in a statement.
India approved Alzumab for treating plaque psoriasis earlier this year. The company worked on the drug for a decade and spent ‘tens of crores’ in developing it, marketing head Rakesh Bamzai said.
He said that Alzumab did not lead to side effects such as heavy liver damage that immunosuppressant drugs treating psoriasis can cause.
Mazumdar-Shaw said the company is in talks with potential partners to launch the drug in other countries. She said the company would make the initial filing with US regulators this year seeking approval to sell Alzumab.
The global market for Psoriasis will likely exceed $8 billion by 2016, according to Biocon’s estimates.
Late last month, the company reported strong results as sales rose across businesses.
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