Indian Oncology drug market is currently registering one of the fastest growth rates which is a clear indication of the companies in the country making efforts to enter the fray. In 2006 alone, three pharma and biotech companies namely Eli Lily, Merck, and Biocon have launched drugs to provide relief to the estimated 84 million people expected to succumb to the disease. In 2005 alone, around 7.6 million people died of cancer in the world.
Eli Lily launched Alimta, for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM)- a rare type of cancer, Merck Specialities received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India for Erbitux, a first-in-class, gold standard new targeted cancer therapy drug for the treatment of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and Biocon, introduced BIOMAB EGFR India's first monoclonal antibody brand.
The size of the Indian cancer drug market is Rs. 800 crore. In India the big oncology drug majors are Sun Pharma, Nicholas Piramal, Dr. Reddy's and Dabur. Biocon, India's biotech major made an aggressive entry into the segment with its BIOMAb EGFR. Multinational companies are Eli Lily and Merck.
Many companies are getting into anti cancer drugs as it is one of the best therapeutic segments with a lot of potential. This is contrary to other segments where there is a proliferation of brands where competition is intense and marketing is totally dependent on price reduction leaving no scope for optimal profit, stated Vengarai Ramaswamy Kannan, pharma consultant in Karnataka.
More and more diagnostic tools have made it easy to detect cancer at an early stage. This is even visible at district and taluka hospitals. The cancer detection programmes organized by the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology is a case in point. "We have been able to detect cases early and this has resulted in providing immediate treatment," stated Dr P Bapsy, medical director, KMIO.
In fact, all national and state government initiatives have seen that cancer diagnosis and treatment reaching patients door step, she added.
In India, common cancers are oral cavity, lungs, oesophagus and stomach amongst men and cervix, breast and oral cavity amongst women.
On the National Cancer Day observed on November 7, oncologists from Sagar Hospital, Bangalore Institute of Oncology and Curie Centre of Oncology stated that there is a mushrooming of dedicated cancer hospitals across the country primarily in the districts. A case in point is the HealthCare Global Enterprises Limited (HCG), a leader in oncology raising Rs 500 million in equity from IDFC Private Equity Fund II, a fund managed by IDFC Private Equity for setting up a nationwide network dedicated to oncology from July this year.
The anti cancer market is on an upward swing and hence it is becoming a primary interest for well established companies to either manufacture or market oncology drugs because these offer a more lucrative scope compared to other therapeutic segments, pointed out Kannan.
Among the perceptible trends in the oncology segment are newer drugs which offer easier treatment options for advanced cancers and a possible prevention of the world's most dreaded disease which affects 2 million people and becoming one of the ten leading causes of death in India, stated sources from Karnataka's National Cancer Registry.
According to Kannan, there is a growth of associated therapy in the anti cancer market with Anti Emitics(Receptors Causing Nausea) and Amifostine (class of drugs known as chemoprotectants) which protects healthy tissue from after effects of chemotherapy and radio therapy on cancer tissues. There is also an increased demand for Filgrastim which decreases the chance of infection in patients with nonmyeloid cancers who receive anticancer therapy that lowers white blood cell counts.
According to Dr Subir Basak, general manager, business development manager, Oncology division , Biocon Limited, "BIOMAb EGFR is the world's Best-in-Class Monoclonal Antibody that targets the EGF receptor available to cancer patients today. EGFR is one of the most validated cancer targets and particularly relevant to India, since 30 per cent of cancers in India are Head and Neck cases. EGFR is over-expressed in Head and Neck cancer and BIOMAb EGFR has been proven effective in treating Head and Neck cancer. This product is Humanized (vs other product which is Chimeric, meaning has a high mouse content in the structure of the monoclonal antibody) with demonstrated superior efficacy to standard of care and safety in global clinical trials.