Eleftha will bring down the treatment cost by 65 per cent
Intas Pharmaceuticals announced a revolutionary step towards making human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive (HER2) breast cancer therapy more accessible to patients through the launch of its trastuzumab biosimilar, Eleftha. Trastuzumab is a targeted therapy which has been shown to inhibit the growth of human cancer cells that overexpress a type of protein called HER2 and has revolutionised the management of HER 2 positive breast cancer
The Maximum retail price (MRP) of Eleftha will be Rs 19,995 for the dose strength of 440 mg, which makes it ~65 per cent more economical than the currently available options. Presently, the MRP of most of the trastuzumab brands in India ranges between Rs 58,000 to Rs 63,000 per 440 mg vial. In patients with HER 2 positive early breast cancer, almost 18 cycles of trastuzumab-based therapy are required, which presently costs more than 10 lakh rupees in India. However, with this unprecedented step by Intas, the cost of treatment comes down to less than 4 lakh rupees, which will enable many more patients to avail the benefit of trastuzumab. This would be a great relief to the families of patients who are already burdened by the financial distress of cancer treatment.