Pune-based Enzene Biosciences announced that it has launched Cetuximab as the first biosimilar to cancer.
Sold under the brand name Erbitux, Cetuximab is a therapeutic chimeric monoclonal antibody that is used as a targeted therapy for metastatic colorectal Cancer (mCRC) and cancer of the head and neck, with eight weeks of treatment costing about $30,000 for a single patient. However, after past patent expiry, several companies were in the race to develop
“Cetuximab’s biosimilar in order to bring down the costs of treatment. Enzene Biosciences has earned the distinction of being the first company to achieve this goal, thereby leading the charge in helping fight the third most common and the second largest cause of deaths due to cancer across the world today,” the company said in a statement.
“Recognizing the fact that biosimilars are an innovative alternative to expensive biologics as a treatment option for a wide range of ailments like cancer, we at Enzene Biosciences have been developing a range of biosimilars for the US, EU, APAC, MENA and LATAM regions. Cetuximab is our latest offering in our pipeline of biosimilars, that is being manufactured using our patented continuous manufacturing platform and will considerably bring down the treatment costs for mCRC and cancer of the head and neck for our Indian patients,” Dr Himanshu Gadgil, CEO, Enzene Biosciences, said in a statement.
According to the company, Cetuximab binds to specific cancer cell surface receptors (EGFR) and competitively inhibits the epidermal growth factor (EGF) binding.
