Roche Scientific Company (I) Ltd (RSPICL), a wholly owned subsidiary of F. Hoffmann — La Roche (FHLR) has appointed Taksal Pharma Pvt Ltd as the new importer and distributor of FHLR in India.
The new agreement will follow the expiry of the 10 year old Frame Co-operation Agreement in November 2003, signed between FHLR and Nicholas Piramal India Ltd (NPIL), in the year 1993.
Taksal is a New Delhi-based private company owned by Vijay Dhar.
All products including Xeloda, Pegasys, Cellcept, Saridon, and Supradyn of FHLR were so far marketed in the country by NPIL. After November 31, 2003, Taksal will market all FHLR products.
RSPICL plans to invest over 10 million Swiss Francs in the country in the next fiscal, which will be utilized towards the company’s focus areas like Integrated Healthcare Solutions (IHS), Extended Access Programmes (EAP) and the launch of new products and therapies in the country.
Through IHS, Roche will introduce its latest technology called PCR Amplicor Technology for treatment of viral hepatitis, right from the detection to cure, all embedded in a single technology. The company has initiated talks with leading hospitals and health research institutes in the country for introducing this technology. It is also in negotiations with its diagnostic division for making real time PCR available to leading cancer institutes.
Roche will introduce EAP in India, where a molecule tried internationally is made available for treating Indian patients much before the international approval.
For the first time Roche is looking at introducing therapies in the areas of dermatology and osteoporosis in the country. Therapies like anti-CMV and treatment of bone metastasis are in the pipeline for India in the coming year. The company will be launching difficult to treat CRC (colorectal and renal cancer) drugs. There has been ongoing research for newer therapies in the areas of transplant, oncology and virology.
Roche has also announced a reduction of prices of its existing therapies including Xeloda, Mabthera, and Cellcept by 25 per cent. Xeloda, which used to cost Rs. 30,000 per batch, will now cost Rs. 18,000. Mabthera price has been reduced to Rs. 80,000 from the earlier Rs. 95,000. Cellcept is priced at Rs. 83 per tablet compared to an earlier price of Rs. 70. These drugs belong to fields like oncology, virology, and transplantation.
Dr. G.L. Telang, Managing director, RSCIPL said, “Roche is committed to exploring new concepts that help to deliver the best possible care for the people. Our decision to further invest in the country and reduces the prices of the therapies reflects Roche’s continued commitment to the Indian healthcare community and to innovation in scientific research.”
“Roche’s focus is not just the diagnosis and treatment of manifest diseases. The integrated healthcare approach is increasingly offering ways of identifying and targeting diseases early, when their damaging effects can still be prevented and we intend to follow the same international practices of Roche in India,” said Juerg Haefelfinger, Deputy Director, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Basel, Switzerland.
The company also intended to venture into manufacturing in the country provided, the patent laws become more stringent and economic growth remains sturdy. RSPICL also announced about the launch of its website in the country.