Zydus Cadila files anti-diabetic drug application with DCGI

Healthcare services provider Zydus Cadila has filed an application before the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for its anti-diabetic drug.

The company has filed an investigational new drug (IND) application before the DCGI for its ZYD1 drug, used in the treatment of diabetes, Cadila Healthcare, the flagship company of Zydus Cadila group, said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The drug has been designed and developed at the Zydus Research Centre and has demonstrated the beneficial effects in pre-clinical animal models on glucose reduction and weight loss, the filing said.

"We believe that it holds promising commercial potential as a best-in-class candidate due to unmet medical needs in the treatment of diabetes," Zydus Cadila Chairman and MD Pankaj Patel said.

According to the company, the number of diabetics in the world is now estimated to be 246 million and is expected to increase rapidly to 380 million by 2025.

At present, 41 million of the diabetic population live in India and is expected to rise to 70 million by 2025.

According to an estimate, by 2025, nearly half of the world's diabetic population will be from India, China, Brazil, Russia and Turkey.

The global anti-diabetic market is estimated at Rs 24 billion dollars in 2008.