Venus Remedies is now scouting for suitable collaborations for co-development or technology commercialisation of its oncology research pipeline products including VRP007, a targeted therapy for cancer treatment.

Its research arm is now working to come up with revolutionary drugs to reduce side-effects. These include Taxedol which is a ready-to-use single vial injectable, VRP1620, a cancer detection therapy and VRP007 . All these drugs are in different stages of development but under patent protection. “We are hopeful of introducing this product in the domestic market by the last quarter of this year,” Dr Manu Chaudhary, joint managing director, Venus Remedies and director, research, Venus Medicine Research Centre told Pharmabiz in an email.

In order to ensure accuracy in research, Venus embarked on collaborations with well known India and international pharma majors during its submissions of common technical dossier (CTD)  for regulated markets. With University of Illinois, Chicago, it teamed up for cancer detection. It is also looking to increase the ambit of the alliance for CTD development of technologies going off-patented in regulated markets. Now we are open to suitable collaborations for co-development or technology commercialisation of our R&D pipeline products, such as the VRP007 therapy, said Dr Chaudhary.

The company already has an adequate oncology drug portfolio covering  Docetaxel, Paclitaxel, Gemcitabine, Oxaliplatin, Bortezomib and Pemetrexed. It is conducting phase III clinical trials for VRP1620, a new chemical entity (NCE), which is based on selective tumour targeting. VRP1620 specifically increases tumour blood flow.  It will take three-five years for VRP007 to come to the market. It will help in alleviating cancer through specific and selective targeting.

These novel drugs are known for targeted delivery. It would reduce side-effects which is one of the main causes of cancer-associated mortality, she added.

India is expected to report 7 lakh fatal cases from cancer by 2015. In such a scenario, oncology drugs have become more crucial than ever before. The escalating prevalence of cancers of all kinds and the ever rising unmet needs in the field of cancer treatment creates a great opportunity for pharma companies. However, inadequate funds for research and lack of help from the government are the major reasons why India lags behind others when it comes to research on innovative drugs, she said.

Indian oncology drug market is dominated by global majors which offer sophisticated diagnostic techniques, advanced technologies and easy-to-use and affordable therapies. Over 1 million cancer cases are diagnosed annually in India, and this number may reach 5 million over the next decade. However, there is always a ray of hope with the development of indigenous technologies, which will be available at a lower cost with better patient compliances.

There are only a handful of Indian pharma companies focusing on  oncology. Lack of government support and encouragement for R&D , coupled with time-consuming regulatory framework, insufficient patent protection and delayed regulatory approvals, are the key challenges. Thus, when it comes to prescriptions by oncologists, a majority global companies’ drugs are prescribed. However, the trend can be reversed if the government provides support to Indian companies conducting R&D in the field of oncology, said Dr Chaudhary.