Ace Bio To Manufacture Drug To Fight Kala Azar

The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), the government owned technology marketing company yesterday signed an agreement with Ace Diagnostics & Biotech Ltd, New Delhi, for the manufacture of Liposomal Amphotericin-B, used in treating the dreaded Kala azar, a disease common in parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The drug, an indigenous substitute for a highly priced imported formulation, has also been found very effective in treating systemic fungal infection, a common problem with immuno compromise cases like AIDS and cancer patients.

The manufacture of Liposomal Amphotericin-B in India gives hope to the resistant kala azar cases, AIDS, cancer, and organ transplant patients.

 

The drug is sold in India by a US firm at Rs 9000 a dose. A typical treatment needs some 60 to 80 doses. he indigenously developed drug could be made available for less than one third the imported drug's price.

The agreement was signed by Jitendra Verma, managing director, Ace Diagnostics, and N K Sharma, managing director, NRDC .

The standardised knowhow has been assigned to NRDC for commercialisation through a tripartite agreement between the department of biotechnology (DBT), KEM Hospital, Mumbai, and NRDC.

The DBT and KEM Hospital developed the drug while NRDC successfully sold it to Ace Diagnostics.

According to Verma, Ace Diagnostics is setting up a Rs. 10 crore manufacturing plant to produce the drug which has been successfully tried on over 150 patients in KEM Hospital.

"The new drug is less expensive, more effective and has almost nil side effects", said Dr Ms Kshirsagar who, along with Dr S K Pandya, successfully conducted clinical trials.