Dishman to use process tech by Liverpool firm to develop drugs

Enters into licensing deal with Redx Pharma for technology to process statins

City-based pharma player, Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals has entered into a license agreement with Liverpool based drug firm Redx Pharma to use patented technology for the synthesis of statins, a widely used class of prescription drugs used to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The tie-up will help Dishman to enhance its contracts research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) portfolio.

"Redx has a unique technology that can be used to process rosuvastatin, a widely used drug for lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels and prevention of heart attacks and strokes. The tie-up will not only enhance our technology portfolio, but will also help us to enhance our CRAMS portfolio", company sources informed. The process is, however, not expected to reduce cost of production, but it is a unique technology used to manufacture the building blocks or active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for making rosuvastatin, the official added.

Rosuvastatin is marketed by AstraZeneca as Crestor. However, companies like Mylan, a generic pharma manufacturer, have recently received nod from regulatory authorities in Canada for a generic version of AstraZeneca’s leading cholesterol drug Crestor (rosuvastatin).

The Dishman official said, "We already make different kinds of statins for several of our clients, and this technology to process rosuvastatin will further add more clients to our portfolio." Another leading statin available in the market is atorvastatin, for which Pfizer's patent has expired in 2011. Generic versions of Pfizer's Lipitor (atorvastatin) are thus now available in the market.

Dishman Pharma has used strategic technology alliances to further business prospects; it had earlier formed an alliance with California based biotechnology firm Codexis in 2010 to use the latter's proprietary enzymatic biocatalysis technology to manufacture APIs and intermediates. Codexis' technology helped Dishman to reduce cost of production, as high as 50 per cent in certain cases.

Redx Pharma is a UK-based pharmaceutical company developing new drug candidates using the broad-based potential of its innovative Redox Switch platform. The approach, which has seen validation across 11 different therapeutic classes, has allowed Redx Pharma to generate a pipeline of candidate programs and opened up a host of licensing opportunities for the company, it said on its website.