Following a successful foray in the US market, Dabur Pharma is planning to enter the oncology market in Europe next month with mitotic inhibitor drug Paclitaxel.
Paclitaxel, derived from natural substances such as plant alkaloids (mitotic inhibitor), is effective for patients with lung, ovarian, breast cancer and advanced forms of Kaposi’s sarcoma.
The company has also filed 10 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) with the US Food & Drug Administration.
Ajay K Vij, chief operating officer of Dabur Pharma, told FE, “while more ANDAs are in the pipeline, we expect to launch two more products in the US market this year.”
The company is also planning to launch Erinotecan, a drug used for treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoma of the colon or rectum, in the UK market.
The global market for generic oncology products is around $20-25 billion, of which US and Europe account for more than 70%. “We have a very good feedback from US and the order position is strong,” said Vij.
In the oncology segment, it is already a market leader in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. Over 50% of the company’s revenue comes from the sales in the overseas market. It had acquired the sales and distribution network of the Thailand based Bioscience in January this year.
The sales for the first quarter of 2007-08 is Rs 73.99 crore comprising only the oncology business against Rs 81.08 crore for the same period last year that included the non-oncology business. The profit after tax for the quarter is almost Rs 8 crore as against Rs 6.6 crore for the period last year.