British drug maker AstraZeneca may launch innovative drugs in India

British drug maker AstraZeneca is betting big on Asia, including emerging markets such as India where it plans to introduce innovative products in its focus areas of cancer, lung diseases and diabetes rather than depend on generic drugs.

The company, which warded off a takeover bid from Pfizer last year, is reposing faith in its new drug pipeline to grow in India even as other multinational drug firms complain about lack of intellectual property protection in the country.

“There is a high unmet medical need in the South Asia healthcare landscape. Patients are not getting treated with guidelines that are recommended. So, we want to be in the whole healthcare ecosystem that we, as pharma companies, can be part of,” said Joris Silon, AstraZeneca's vice-president for Asia. “The key areas for us in India would be diabetes, asthma, respiratory diseases and oncolog” he said.

The intense competition in India's diabetes market has not deterred the company from expanding its predominant presence. It sees a recent court ruling that shot down a compulsory licence request by an Indian company for its diabetes drug Onglyza as a shot in the arm for its India operations. “We want to do a sustainable business in India. If we define something, we need to have long term planning. If regulations move in different directions it is not easy for us. So, India is an important market for us, because of the huge unmet medical needs and the huge size of the population, and I do believe with this court ruling that things are moving in the right direction,” said Silon. He said the company is working with regulators and governments to make sure there is right ecosystem. “So, having IP which is respected and a good stable regulatory environment is one of them. It might be a bumpy road, but we will continue to work” he said.

In the diabetes market, though, the next focus for the company will be its new drug Forxiga, a new class of drug which the company feels will be the future in this therapy. Silon said it is looking for a marketing partner for Forxiga who is “trustworthy, sustainable and has high ethical standards“. AstraZeneca's India business is one of the smallest among prominent foreign firms, but the company has one of the highest growth rates. It has sales of 586 crore with a 14.5% growth rate, according to data from the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists Association.

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