Eisai Pharmaceuticals India and Mylan Pharmaceuticals have entered into a marketing license agreement to commercialise teceris, the innovator’s second brand of the anticancer agent eribulin mesylate (eribulin) in India. Teceris will be manufactured and supplied by Eisai India and marketed by Mylan. This agreement is an important strategy for expanding the access of eribulin for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients in India.
Eribulin, a novel anticancer agent, discovered in-house by Eisai was approved in India in April 2013 for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, which, previously, was being treated with at least two chemotherapy regimens including an anthracycline and a taxane. In October 2013, Eisai India launched the eribulin brand halaven for eligible patients under its patient assistance programme.
Commenting on the co-exclusive, marketing relationship, Dr. Sanjit Singh Lamba, Managing Director, Eisai India, said, “Our endeavor at Eisai group always has been to ensure that we make our innovative products more accessible to patients who have an unmet medical need. We have been doing it through our tiered pricing programmes and now we have entered into a partnership with Mylan to address unmet medical needs. This step is a part of our hhc philosophy of human healthcare thereby keeping the patient at the centre and ensuring our medicines are accessible and affordable.”
Also sharing his views, Rakesh Bamzai, President, India and Emerging Markets, Mylan, said, “The launch of the innovator’s second brand of eribulin, teceris will enable enhanced access to the medicine through our co-exclusive marketing relationship as both Eisai India and Mylan share a commitment to bring affordable and high-quality medicines to market, especially in areas of unmet need. Eribulin is an important addition to our growing oncology portfolio and, expands the available treatment options for women with advanced or metastatic stages of breast cancer. The collaboration with Eisai India is yet another positive step in our ongoing efforts to help improve affordability and access to essential oncology treatments in India and serve the patient community.”
The number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in India has increased in the recent years, with an estimated 163,000 new cases of breast cancer and approximately 87,000 related deaths in 2018.
Eisai group positions oncology as a key therapeutic area and is aiming to discover revolutionary new medicines with the potential to cure cancer. In addition, the group will continue to adopt proactive measures aimed at increasing access to its innovative pharmaceutical products in emerging countries and the developing world in order to contribute to an increase in the benefits provided to local patients and their families.
The partnership between Eisai India and Mylan will lead to enhanced access and affordability of cancer treatment for breast cancer patients in India. Mylan’s oncology portfolio in India includes high quality, affordable cancer-related cytotoxic and targeted therapies forbreast, lung and colorectal cancer.