Dr. Reddy Stands as the First Indian Firm to Launch Cancer Drug in Chinese Market

India’s Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has made history as the first Indian firm to receive approval from China for an anticancer drug.

India’s Ambassador to China Vikram Misri tweeted on October 13, “a breakthrough for the Indian pharmaceutical industry in China as Abiraterone by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories becomes the first anti-cancer drug from India to enter the Chinese market. Expect more success on this front.”

Generic Version of Janssen’s Zytiga

Dr. Reddy’s anti-cancer drug is a generic version of Janssen’s abiraterone acetate (Zytiga). Zytiga was approved by USFDA in February 2018 to be used in combination with prednisone for metastatic high-risk castration-sensitive prostate cancer (CSPC). What’s more, the drug was approved in China in 2015 as a combination therapy to treat patients with mCRPC.

Statistics have shown that sales of abiraterone acetate substantially increased from 2016 to 2019. The annual sales revenue reached $88 million in 2019, a 30-fold jump in revenue compared to 2016. A report by ​​Research and Markets estimates sales of abiraterone in China “will continue to grow” in the next five years as the outlook of the Covid-19 pandemic improves. 

Dr. Reddy’s Moves on Cancer Drugs

In September 2021, Dr. Reddy launched Reddy-Lenalidomide, the generic version of Celgene’s oral cancer drug Revlimid, in Canada. It is one of the first generics of Revlimid in Canada, and it is used to treat patients with multiple myeloma.

The same month, the Indian firm sold the rights of its anti-cancer agent E7777 to Citius Pharmaceuticals, the deal of which is worth up to $150 million including  milestone payments. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories acquired the drug in 2016 from the Japanese biotech Eisai.

Author

Tyler Chen

"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."- Erma Bombeck