AstraZeneca Looks to Expand in India Through Licensing Deals and Public-Private Partnerships

11 Mar 2024 , 10:16 AM

AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical, plans 15 new releases in India over the next two years, including innovative treatments and new indications for existing assets, according to Sanjeev Panchal, managing director of AstraZeneca Pharma India. The company would be doing 15 new launches starting 2023 until 2025, he added.

The drugs would fall under the therapeutic categories of cancer, cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic (CVRM) illnesses, respiratory and immunology, and uncommon diseases. According to Panchal, some of the new drugs will be biologics or monoclonal antibodies.

To increase access to its innovative therapies, AstraZeneca is pursuing strategies such as public-private partnerships (PPPs) for screening and early diagnosis, licensing deals with Indian pharmaceutical companies to increase reach, and implementing a country-specific or tiered pricing approach in India based on economic indicators, ensuring drug prices are lower than in advanced countries, he said.

Panchal stated that the new releases will accelerate the company’s expansion in India.

AstraZeneca’s India business resumed growing in FY23 after nearly two years of plateauing revenues due to the patent expiration of major medicines such as antiplatelet medication Brilinta (ticagrelor) and anti-diabetes treatment Forxiga (dapagliflozin).

AstraZeneca’s revenue for the nine months ending December 31, 2023, increased by over 28% year on year to ₹939 Crore. Innovative compounds such as Tagrisso (osimertinib) for lung cancer, Lynparza (olaparib) for ovarian cancer, Imfinzi (durvalumab), Fasenra (benralizumab) for asthma, and Calquence (acalabrutinib) for lymphoma drove growth.

In January, AstraZeneca announced the availability of Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer patients in India. It has also entered the rare illness therapeutic market in India with the introduction of Koselugo (selumetinib) for the treatment of Neurofibromatosis (NF1), and has recently announced the launch of a monoclonal antibody for preterm newborns.

For feedback and suggestions, write to us at [e-mail]