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Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd on August 6, 2015 entered into a strategic collaboration with Amgen, one of the world’s leading independent biotechnology companies, to market and distribute three Amgen medicines in India in the areas of oncology and cardiology. Under the terms of the collaboration, Dr Reddy’s will perform a full range of regulatory and commercial services to seek approval and launch Kyprolis (carfilzomib), Blincyto (blinatumomab) and Repatha (evolocumab) in India. The collaboration leverages the capabilities of both companies, combining three of Amgen’s innovative therapies with Dr Reddy’s deep understanding of patient and physician needs in India.
Alok Sonig, executive vice president and head of India business & global business development, Dr Reddy’s, stated, “We are excited about our strategic collaboration with an innovation powerhouse like Amgen and look forward to making their innovative medicines accessible to Indian patients. Addressing significant unmet needs of patients in oncology and cardiovascular are key areas in India and, therefore, a priority for us at Dr Reddy’s.”
Penny Wan, vice president and general manager, Japan Asia Pacific Region, Amgen, commented, “We are pleased to be joining forces with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in order to make Amgen’s innovative medicines available to patients in India. Dr Reddy’s has significant experience serving oncology and cardiovascular patients in India and shares Amgen’s interest in delivering new treatment options to seriously ill patients.”
Kyprolis was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2015, in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone, for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior lines of therapy.
Blincyto is an example of immunotherapy, a treatment that uses certain parts of a person’s immune system to fight diseases such as cancer. Blincyto - the first approved bispecific CD19-directed CD3 T-cell engager - engages the body’s T-cells, a type of white blood cell or lymphocyte, to destroy leukemia cells. It was approved by the US FDA in 2014, to treat patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-cell ALL), an uncommon form of ALL.
In July this year, the European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorisation for Repatha, the first proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor to be approved in the world, for the treatment of patients with uncontrolled cholesterol despite taking maximum doses of statins or who cannot take statins, who require additional intensive low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction.
