Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Aug 19, 2006
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Aug 19, 2006 |
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Research & Development India on Merck's research radar Our Bureau
Mumbai , Aug 18 India will increasingly feature on drug-maker Merck's research radar, top officials with the company said at the launch of Erbitux, Merck's targeted-therapy drug for colorectal cancer. Merck will bring in more research at the Phase II and Phase III levels of clinical trials, Mr Wayne Paterson, Regional Head of Oncology with Merck Pte, told Business Line.
On trials
India will be part of a global trial for lung-cancer vaccine Stimuvax. The trials are expected to begin in December and regulatory approvals have been received in India, he said. The Germany-head-quartered Merck KgaA spends about 26 per cent of its turnover on research, he said. He, however, did not divulge details on the additional research that is tipped to come to India. The launch of Erbitux in India has been through Merck's wholly owned subsidiary, Merck Specialities Pvt Ltd. Priced at about Rs 17,500 for a vial, the drug could be used alone or in combination with chemo or radiotherapy, said Merck officials. The product is a pre-1995 drug, he said, indicating that the product did not have a patent pending on it in India. But innovations on the drug could be patent protected, he observed. Colorectal cancer accounts for 10 percent of all cancers, said Dr S.H. Advani of Jaslok Hospital. India has an incidence of 35,000 new patients every year, he added.
Unlisted entity
While the launch of Erbitux came through Merck's unlisted entity, Merck operates two subsidiaries in India, Merck Ltd (a 51 per cent subsidiary) and Merck Development Centre. Dr Marek Dziki, Managing Director of Merck Ltd, told the correspondent that they would continue to operate the different subsidiaries. Merck Ltd would focus on pharmaceuticals and the generics business, Merck Specialities would look at innovative products such as oncology drugs and biologics and Merck Development Centre would be into research. New products could be launched through both the listed and unlisted entities, he indicated, responding to observations that multinationals are increasingly launching products through their unlisted entity.
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