 "Cadila to sell cheaper lung cancer drug in India by Dec")
The company plans to sell the drug abroad, including the US, Europe and Africa, Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv Modi said on Thursday. "It has taken us over a decade, huge investment and dedicated a research & development team to develop this unique drug. We expect it to be available in the Indian market by December 2013. Thereafter, we will introduce it in other regions like Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries and European markets over the next five years," he said.
Mycidac-C is for patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Modi said the drug test showed it improved survival possibilities by 28.2 per cent and prolonged survival period by 40 per cent, on an average. The company plans to make the drug at its US Food and Drug Administration-approved factory in Dholka, Gujarat. Modi said the company would join hands with an American company to market the drug in developed markets.
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"We do not have capabilities to market it in such markets. So, we will look for global marketing partners to sell the medicine in developed markets such as the US and Europe," he said.
In India and Africa, the company will use its own network to sell Mycidac-C. In India, the drug will cost Rs 40,000 for a dose of 10 injections. Roche's Avastin, used for similar treatment, at Rs 37,000 for a single vial is nine times costlier, said a PTI report. According to a World Health Organization report, 1.25 million people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year globally. About 30 per cent of them suffer from squamous NSCLC.