Life Care Innovations, a Delhi based company that has recently come out with indigenously developed liposomal drug delivery system for Amphotericin B, is planning to introduce the drug in north Indian market for the treatment of Kala Azar. The company is already having rate purchase contract with all defense establishments in the country. The drug is also available in all major hospitals in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Banglore.
Launched in May, Fungisome, the branded injectable, is known to be the safest medicine for Kala Azar, a major health problem in North India and countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Brazil and Sudan. According to WHO estimates, about 90 per cent of the five-lakh cases that occur world over annually are in India.
Life Care is the second company in the world to come out with safe Amphotericin B injection as most of the conventional Amphotericin B is having serious side effects. Though the product is economically placed when compared to the imported innovator’s medicine, it is expensive than the conventional medicines.
It is known that conventional preparations of Amphotericin-B, which is a suspension of the drug in Bile salt, carry the serious risk of nephrotoxicity, cardiotoxicity and other adverse effects. According to Dr J N Verma, Life Care Innovations, "Fungisome removes toxicity and also prevents any interaction with human cells as well as raises the specificity to target fungal cells, thus making it the safest formulation proven internationally.” The drug matches with the best of the imported options in terms of therapeutic efficacy and the treatment costs as little as, one tenth of the imported option, he said.
Apart from being used to treat Kala Azar, Amphotericin B has long been the drug of choice for life-threatening fungal infections, of the kind found in immuno-compromised patients, diabetics, AIDS victims and Cancer and organ transplant patients.
The drug was developed indigenously, with support from the Department of Bio-technology, and was licensed to Life Care innovations by the National Research Development Corporation.
Meanwhile, the Central Government has decided to include Kala Azar among the diseases identified to be included in the National Health Programme. The centre has invited tenders for the supply of 30,000 vials of Amphotericin B to be distributed as part of its on going National Anti-Malaria Programme. The development is likely to boost the business prospects of the company. When queried, Verma informed that Life Care would take part in the tender process.