- InfuSMART Roll-out Begins in Europe; Planned Across Six Countries - Netherlands, UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France Over Next Few Months
- InfuSMART is Developed by Sun Pharma's R&D Team in India
- Ready-to-administer Medicines are Expected to Play an Increasing Role due to Improved Safety, Convenience and Time Saving Benefits
As part of its business strategy to build a meaningful and differentiating presence in Global Oncology Therapy market, Sun Pharma (Reuters: SUN.BO, Bloomberg: SUNP IN, NSE: SUNPHARMA, BSE: 524715, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and includes its subsidiaries or associate companies) today announced the roll-out of Gemcitabine InfuSMART in Europe. InfuSMART is a technology in which oncology products are developed in a Ready-To-Administer (RTA) bag. Until now, compounding of oncology products was done at compounding centres or compounded in hospital pharmacies, an extra step before the medicine can be administered to patients. With the roll-out of Gemcitabine InfuSMART,
Sun Pharma becomes world's first pharmaceutical company to manufacture and launch a licensed RTA oncology product. This
innovatively differentiated
product will have a shelf life of two years. Over the next few months, Sun Pharma will launch Gemcitabine InfuSMART across Netherlands, UK, Spain, Germany, Italy & France.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160711/813488)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160711/813488-a)
Sun Pharma received regulatory approval to produce Gemcitabine InfuSMART in eight key SKUs. The InfuSMART concept involves dose banding practice whereby, through agreement between prescribers and pharmacists, standardized doses of intravenous cytotoxic drugs are used for ranges (or 'bands') of doses calculated for individual patients. More InfuSMART oncology products are currently in Sun Pharma's pipeline to be rolled out in the future.
Commenting on the roll-out of InfuSMART in Europe, Ms Hellen de Kloet, Business Head - Western Europe & ANZ, Sun Pharma said,
"Sun Pharma's Gemcitabine InfuSMART ready-to-administer infusion products provide the combined advantage of long stable compounded medicine along with safety. Its ready availability for treatment can make a difference to the healthcare worker and patients. Traditionally such medicines are compounded at hospitals (in-house) or outsourced to compounding pharmacies making it a time-consuming and potentially hazardous process. Launch of InfuSMART will help us remain a meaningful player in the global oncology therapy market by offering differentiating cancer treatment solutions. We believe there are opportunities for us to expand our portfolio of ready-to-administer products across multiple therapies where time and safety are an important element of treatment."
The NHS (UK) has been encouraging development of licensed RTA products. It has issued guidelines for hospitals for procuring such medicines. The launch of Gemcitabine InfuSMART offers Sun Pharma a definite first-mover advantage in Europe for cancer treatment. The Gemcitabine InfuSMART RTA infusion bag is developed at Sun Pharma's R&D centre in India.
According to WHO, cancer figures amongst the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012. The number of new cases is expected to rise by about 70% over the next two decades. Among men, the five most common cancers diagnosed in 2012 were lung, prostate, colorectum, stomach, and liver cancer. Among women the five most common cancers diagnosed were breast, colorectum, lung, cervix and stomach.
Sun Pharma is the world's fifth largest specialty generic pharmaceutical company and India's top pharmaceutical company. A vertically integrated business, economies of scale and an extremely skilled team enable us to deliver quality products in a timely manner at affordable prices. It provides high-quality, affordable medicines trusted by customers and patients in over 150 countries across the world. Sun Pharma's global presence is supported by 47 manufacturing facilities spread across 6 continents, R&D centres across the globe and a multi-cultural workforce comprising over 50 nationalities. The consolidated revenues for 12 months ending March 2016 are approximately US$ 4.3 billion, of which US contributes US$ 2.1 billion. In India, the company enjoys leadership across 13 different classes of doctors with 30 brands featuring amongst top 300 pharmaceutical brands in India. Its footprint across emerging markets covers over 100 markets and 6 markets in Western Europe. Its Global Consumer Healthcare business is ranked amongst Top 10 across 4 global markets. Its API business footprint is strengthened through 14 world class API manufacturing facilities across the globe. Sun Pharma fosters excellence through innovation supported by strong R&D capabilities comprising about 2,000 scientists and R&D investments of over 8% of annual revenues.
SOURCE Sun Pharma
