BDR Pharma prostate cancer drug at 1/3rd of innovator brand price

BDR Pharmaceutical launched the first generic of a key prostrate cancer drug – Apalutamide under the brand name Apatide in India at one-third the price of the innovator brand.

Raheel Shah, Director Business Development, BDR Group said that the product will be available across India in strengths of 60mg in packs of 60 tablets and 120 tablets. “Typically a patient is put on this drug for two months with a gap of one week in between the two months,” Shah said.

The price for a bottle of 60 tablets is Rs 22,500 and for a bottle of 120 tablets is Rs 45,000

Apalutamide was originated by the University of California system and was developed primarily by Janssen Research & Development, a division of Johnson & Johnson.

“Apalutamide in combination with anti-androgen therapy will significantly improve chances for survival within Metastatic Castration Sensitive Prostrate Cancer patients. Apalutamide plus ADT (androgen-deprivation therapy) arm shows a significant decrease in the risk of disease progression and reduces risk of mortality by 35% amongst Non-Metastatic Castration resistant Prostrate Cancer,” the company said.

BDRs journey for the treatment of Prostate Cancer started with Abiratarone Acetate, then Leuprolide Acetate followed by Enzalutamide and, then Degarelix and Triptorelin.

Worldwide, Prostate cancer burden is expected to grow to 1.7 million new cases and 4, 99,000 new deaths by 2030 simply due to the growth and aging of the global population. And in India, Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer deaths among men, the world over. Information accessibility among the people regarding the disease is at its minimum level with zero acceptance.