Venus Remedies Ltd, a research-oriented global pharmaceutical company, has received a patent from the United States Patent Office (USPTO) for Achnil, a once-a-day painkiller injection developed by the Venus Medicine Research Centre (VMRC), the R&D wing of Venus Remedies. The patent will remain in force till 2032.
“The formulation will be commercialised in the US market through technology transfer/out licensing of exclusive marketing rights route, and we are open to such deals,” said Dheeraj Aggarwal, chief financial officer, Venus Remedies.
Containing aceclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), Achnil is a pioneering product developed by the VMRC in its efforts to develop a controlled release formulation based on the novel drug delivery system. While the US represents the largest market for pain management worldwide, NSAIDs account for 28 per cent of the global painkiller market, the size of which was US$ 10.22 billion in 2013. The share of injectables in this market is 15 per cent, making it a market worth US$ 1.5 billion.
Expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.1 per cent, this potential market for Achnil will be worth US$ 1.75 billion by 2018.
Achnil is the best and safest option to address such pains. The aceclofenac-based formulation can relieve acute as well as chronic pain and inflammation arising from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lower back pain, ankylosing spondylitis, and dental, post-traumatic pain, gynaecological and cancer-related pains.
An aceclofenac injection is effective for 24 hours as against the conventional daily dose of three injections of diclofenac given every eight hours. It not only reduces the number of pricks but also drastically reduces the side-effects associated with the frequent use of NSAIDs. Aceclofenac is designed in such a way that the product is never released in super or sub-therapeutic zones and is hence highly safe and practically free from side effects.
It took the VMRC more than five years to develop this product, which has received an overwhelming response from the medical fraternity in India since it was launched in the country two years ago.
It is projected that the global market for pain management will reach US$ 60 billion by 2015. More than 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain of varying degrees. An estimated 3-4.5 per cent of the global population suffers from neuropathic pain, the incidence of which increases in direct proportion to age.
Dr Manu Chaudhary, joint managing director, Venus Remedies Ltd, and director, Research, VMRC said, “In view of the rise in the population of elderly people in regulated markets and absence of safer pain management therapies, the demand for better products to address acute and chronic pains is also on the rise. We have developed Achnil to address this unmet need.”
Venus has also secured a US patent for its novel research products Elores, Potentox and Vancoplus.