Dabur India Limited is one of the major R&D driven pharmaceutical companies in the country. Its focus on developing new drugs for the oncology segment has already started paying dividends with Dabur Oncology, a subsidiary of Dabur India Limited based in UK and India, achieving several landmarks in cancer drug research during the last several years.
The company''s research arm, Dabur Research Foundation, is focusing its energies on the development of new-patented Oncology drugs and manufacturing generic oncology drug formulations and active pharmaceuticals ingredients.
The R&D initiative has generated a pipeline of potential therapeutic molecules that are at different stages of development and are being protected by filing patents in India and at global level. The company has filed over 40 molecules for patents and has al-ready received 17 patents, largely from US and European countries.
According to Dr Anand Burman, chairman, Dabur Oncology, UK, "Phase I clinical trial of DRF 7295 for the treatment of adinocarcinoma is in progress. Phase I clinical trial with nano particle delivery of Paclitaxel will be initiated by October 2002. Three molecules are in advanced stages of preclinical development for the treatment of GI cancers, ovarian cancer and for the prevention of metastasis or spread of cancer from the primary source. These will be taken into clinical trial by the end of 2003".
The organization has a team of over 125 eminent scientists progressively making headway in new molecules and rapidly taking forward into preclinical and clinical development. The organization has a tie-up with various research institutes and Universities across the globe to tap the latest development.
As part of its industry-institution-government program national universities, DBT Institutes, DRDO Institute, IIT, Indian Institute of Science and CSIR Institutes are working with Dabur Research Foundation on some of the specific areas of Cancer Drug Development.
The areas of research include development of drugs, vaccines, molecular diagnostics, and New and novel delivery for the already marke-ted and established drug delivery system. The cutting edge tech-nology of proteomics and genomics is being adopted for the screening of the new chemical entities.
Molecular diagnostic services have been launched with the idea of providing the most sensitive molecular assays for the diagnosis and monitoring of the therapy. In depth research has been initiated to develop molecular assays to assess the high risk to breast, colon and cervical cancer.
The company has three subsidiaries namely Dabur Foods, Dabur Oncology and Dabur Nepal Pvt Ltd. Dabur Foods Limited markets fruit juices and cooking pastes. Dabur Oncology is into manufacturing and marketing of anti-cancer formulations in the international market. Dabur Nepal Pvt Limited is meant for providing a manufacturing base for natural health and personal care products.
Dabur is one of the leading Consumer goods companies in India with interest in natural Health & Beauty Care and Foods.
The company commenced operations in 1884 and today has a sales turnover of Rs. 1163.19 crore.An ISO 9002 recognized company Dabur has a strong shareholder fraternity of 30,000 shareholders with a market capitalization of over Rs.1500 crore. The company has over 3000 employees across 11 manufacturing plants in India, Nepal and Egypt and a licensee in the Middle East.