Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories on November 28 launched Toripalimab, India’s first immuno-oncology drug to treat a rare form of cancer. The drug is approved to treat nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare type of head and neck cancer.
The Hyderabad-based company said in an exchange filing that it is India’s first and only immuno-oncology drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, and others. Metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma in adults.
With this launch, India becomes the third country in the world after China and the US to get access to this next-generation PD-1 inhibitor. Dr. Reddy’s will market the drug under the brand name ‘Zytorvi’ in India. The combination of toripalimab and standard-of-care chemotherapy showed a 48 percent reduction in the risk of progression or death from nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
In 2023, Dr. Reddy’s entered into a license and commercialization agreement with Shanghai Junshi Biosciences for toripalimab, which gave it exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the drug in 21 countries, including India, South Africa, Brazil and various countries in Latin America. The agreement also allowed Dr. Reddy’s to expand the scope of the license to Australia, New Zealand and nine other countries.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd reported a remarkable 16.5 percent growth in revenue at Rs 8,016.2 crore in its FY25 second quarter results, beating estimates. However, the company saw a 9.5 per cent decline in profit at Rs 1,342 crore as against Rs 1,482 crore last year. EBITDA rose 3.5 per cent to Rs 2,054.5 crore, though margins declined to 25.6 per cent from 29 per cent. The company reiterated its FY25 guidance, with research and development expenses expected to remain around 8.5 percent.
What is nasopharyngeal carcinoma?
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a rare form of head and neck cancer. However, the prognosis for patients in advanced stages is poor, and India is among the top five countries in the world in terms of disease burden.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a malignant tumor arising from the epithelium of the nasopharynx. According to Globocon 2022 data, the number of newly diagnosed NPC cases worldwide has exceeded 120,000 in 2022. In India, there were 6,519 newly diagnosed cases of NPC in 2022, with an incidence of 19.4/100,000 population in Kohima, Nagaland.
