Merck Sharp & Dome Pharmaceuticals (MSDP), a wholly owned subsidiary of US pharma major Merck, is looking into introducing some breakthrough products in the cardio vascular segment in India and becoming the leading vaccines company in India.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of its first breakthrough vaccine for cervical cancer, in Kolkata, Anjana Narain, director vaccine of MSDP, said “We have a rich pipeline of products for the Indian market and would strive to become the top company introducing vaccines in India.” The company, which started operations in 2005, was in four focus therapeutic segments - cardiovascular, critical care, metabolics and vaccines.
MSD had three critical care products, one metabolics product and two vaccines at present, but no cardio vascular product. The market response for which have been good, said Narain. Since MSDP did not have any products in the cardio-vascular segment, the focus would be on introducing cardio-vascular products and also to meet requirements from the high disease areas, said Jyotsna Ghosal of MSDP.
The company aimed to introduce a Rotavirus vaccine in India shortly and even bring home some of the solutions from the parent company's nine theraupatic areas. MSDP launched Gardasil, a vaccine for cervical cancer, last week in Delhi.
Sales touched $1.1 billion during the first nine months of 2007 globally. Gardasil was launched in 2006 in 108 countries and more than 36 million doses had been distributed worldwide.
Gardasil was priced at Rs 2,800 a shot with three doses prescribed. Regulatory approvals and immunogenity studies delayed its launched in India.
Trials done by the Indian Council of Medical Research would take some time, but once done, the vaccine would be available at government clinics too, said Narain. To make Gardasil affordable, MSDP signed an MoU with the government for a public private partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for clinical trials. Cervical cancer was a common condition in India with more than 130,000 women diagnosed with it every year.
This vaccine had also been approved by the US Food and Drugs Authority (USFDA).
