Cadila Pharma bags Wellcome Trust award

Ahmedabad-based pharma major Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited has received the Wellcome Trust Award under the new R&D for Affordable Healthcare in India initiative to support a phase III clinical trial of Polycap, a combination pill to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation that supports innovations in biomedical research and the medical humanities.

Cardio Vascular Diseases (CVD), predominantly heart disease and stroke, account for around 30 per cent of all deaths around the world. Polycap comprises three blood pressure reducing agents, including a diuretic and a beta blocker, together with a cholesterol-lowering statin.

All of the agents have been chosen based on the evidence of their reducing cardiovascular risk and generic drug status.

 

The combination pill has already been tested in over 2000 volunteers across 50 centers in India as part of The Indian PolycapTM Study (TIPS) published in the Lancet in 2009.

Results from the phase II trial found that use of the drug reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 62 per cent and stroke by per cent.