The company launched novel therapy sovateltide under brand name Tyvalzi in September last year in India for treating ischemic stroke, under an exclusive licensing agreement from US-based Pharmazz.
Sovateltide is generating good clinical outcomes on Indian patients, a senior executive said.
Approved by the Indian drug regulator in May 2023, sovateltide can be administered within 24 hours for the treatment of ischemic stroke, almost five times more than the narrow time window of 4-5 hours offered by current treatment options like tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) called thrombolytic drugs that dissolve the clots that cause strokes. An ischemic stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when blood supply to part of a brain is blocked or reduced.
Sun Pharma priced sovateltide at ₹1,300 per vial. Considering average body weight in India, a total of 9 injections are to be administered over six days. The total cost of therapy is at ₹11,700, much cheaper than two common thrombolytic drugs, alteplase 20 mg sold at ₹24,000 and tenecteplase at ₹34,500.
These are still early days for sovateltide, which is not yet approved in the US.Kirti Ganorkar, CEO of India Business at Sun Pharma, in an interview to ET, said the response from the doctors who used it on their patients has been good. He believes sovateltide has the potential to shake up the ₹175-crore Indian ischemic stroke market.”We have a business development and portfolio team, which is continuously scanning opportunities across therapies,” Ganorkar said.
“We are present in 12 therapies, each of the therapy areas if there is an unmet demand, such product is either under development, or already close to approval or already approved. Then we will go and approach the partner, and we will also explain to them why they should partner with Sun Pharma,” he added.
Sovateltide launch is part of the larger transition happening at India’s largest pharma company and powerhouse of branded generic that’s keen on bringing innovative therapies either through licensing deals or inhouse development addressing the unmet needs of domestic market to maintain lead over rivals and grow above India’s pharmaceutical market.
Sun Pharma in recent months has entered pacts with Ahmedabad-based Zydus Lifesciences for co-marketing of Desidustat and German drug maker Bayer to market and distribute the second brand of its finerenone in India. Both are innovative therapies for treating chronic kidney disease.
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