Venus Remedies Ltd,  a Rs. 530 crore plus leading research-driven pharmaceutical company, has entered Singapore’s topical pain management market with a marketing authorisation and patent for its herbal nanotechnology-based pain reliever Trois. The company is holding talks with various pharmaceutical firms for tie-ups to market Trois in Singapore.

Hailing the achievement, Venus Remedies chairman and managing director Pawan Chaudhary said, “This is a great opportunity for us to capture a sizeable share in this segment of the Singapore pharma market. Trois has a huge potential in Singapore, where 10 per cent people are diagnosed with arthritis, 73.4 per cent of the office workers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders and 20 per cent of the population above the age of 65 suffers from symptoms of osteoarthritis.”

Chaudhary said the worldwide size of the topical pain management market is $4 billion, and, going by global projections, Trois has the potential of becoming a US $250-million product once launched internationally.

A product for topical use, Trois provides quick and lasting relief to patients suffering from rheumatic disorders, low back pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, knee pain, ankylosing spondylitis, fibromyalgia and pain originating from muscles and tendons. Currently, more than 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pains of varying degree.

“Trois is the safest known topical product for management of pain and inflammation associated with rheumatic disorders. It is 30 per cent more effective than conventional products, as proven by a series of toxicity and safety studies. It has 150 per cent enhanced retention for longer effect, improved relief and better mobility,” said Dr Manu Chaudhary, joint managing director and director, research, Venus Remedies.

A pioneer in translational medicine, Venus has filed the product, process and use patent for Trois in 46 countries. While the company has already received patents from South Africa, New Zealand and now Singapore, it is on the verge of getting patent grants from the US, Canada and Europe.

Acknowledged as the Best Innovation for 2011 jointly by the Lockheed Martin Foundation, IC2 Texas, US, Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Trois was launched in India last year. Having received a tremendous response from doctors and an encouraging feedback from patients in India, Trois is set to be a blockbuster product in the next few years.

The unique proposition of Trois is that it acts simultaneously on multiple inflammation-causing pathways to provide relief from pain and inflammation of multiple origins with very high efficacy as the particle size is less than the size of skin pores, thus making it easier to penetrate. Trois acts by selective cox-2 inhibition and inhibits transient receptor potential (TRP) activation and nociceptor stimulation (central and peripheral), thereby preventing cartilage degradation and bone erosion.