Gennova Biopharmaceuticals recently launched an indigenously developed PEGEX (Pegfilgrastim) in India at an affordable rate of Rs 17,900. PEGEX is indicated to reduce the duration of Neutropenia and also the incidence of febrile Neutropenia in patients treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy for treatment of cancer.

Gennova's PEGEX will be available to the patients at a very low cost compared to other pegfilgrastim brands which are currently priced above Rs 27,000.

Neutropenia is a condition caused due to reduced number of neutrophils in the blood. Neutrophils are part of White Blood Cells (WBC's) which plays an important role in fighting infection and maintaining immunity. During cytotoxic chemotherapy sometimes the patient's neutrophil count can come down drastically exposing the patient at increased risk of infection which could lead to prolonged admission and also use of certain high end antibiotics. Presence of neutropenia can force the physician to reduce the intended chemotherapy dose or postpone the regimen until the neutrophil count comes to an acceptable level. Grannulocyte-Colony stimulating growth factors (G-CSF) like filgrastim and pegfilgrastim are used to increase the neutrophil count in chemotherapy induced neutropenia.

Speaking about the launch, Dr Sanjay Singh, CEO, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals said, "With the launch of PEGEX, Gennova is fulfilling its mission of offering cost effective high end technology medicines produced in India."

Arun Khanna, COO, Emcure Pharmaceuticals said, "Currently filgrastim, the conventional growth factor, is used in a majority as a daily injection for five to 10 days per chemotherapy cycle. Sometimes, due to logistic reasons the patient cannot take the recommended daily filgrastim injections leading to chemotherapy dose delays and dose reductions thus probably affecting the outcome. PEGEX offers the convenience of one injection per chemotherapy cycle with similar safety and efficacy profile as filgrastim."

Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, a biotech company located in Pune, is a subsidiary of Emcure Pharmaceuticals. GBL already manufactures and markets its own brands of TNK-tPA (Tissue-Plasminogen Activator), GM-CSF (Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor) and EPO (recombinant human erythropoietin) and boasts of a robust pipeline. GBL has well established recombinant protein expression and characterization platforms using E coli yeast, and mammalian (CHO cells) systems.