Dabur Pharma's NANOXEL gets DCGI approval

Dabur Pharma Ltd. India’s leading oncology player, today announced that the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved its proprietary Nanoparticle Paclitaxel formulation “NANOXEL” for additional indications of Ovarian Cancer, Non-small Cell Lung Cancer and AIDS related Kaposis’s Sarcoma.

NANOXEL had earlier been approved by the DCGI in 2006 for the treatment of Breast Cancer and after its launch in January 2007, hundreds of patients have benefited from this novel formulation.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Ajay Kumar Vij, CEO, Dabur Pharma Ltd. said, “We are very pleased by DCGI’s decision. Consistent with our mission of making cancer therapy available to more people, this approval will help a much larger patient population have access to a significantly safer and more convenient therapeutic alternative to conventional Paclitaxel”

Patent granted for Roche's new anaemic drug CERA

Roche’s new drug anaemic drug CERA (continuous erythropoietin receptor activator) patent appilcation has been granted in India on 15^th Feb, 2008. Patent No. IN212430 entitled “A CONJUGATE COMPRISING ERYTHROPOIETIN DERIVATIVES” claiming priority from US application Ser. No 60/142,254, 1999-07-02 was filed in India on 29/06/2000 and got published 27/04/2007.

 

CERA is a pegylated derivate of erythropoietin, which provides potent and sustained stimulation of red blood cell formation with longer dosing intervals. Studies have shown that CERA has unique activity at the receptor site. It is postulated this is related to its repeated and rapid attachment and dissociation from the receptor involved in triggering erythropoiesis (red blood cell formation) together with an extended serum half life. This results in more potent stimulation of erythropoiesis, both in magnitude and duration, compared to standard epoetins.