Aurobindo Pharma Arm Enters Into Agreement With Medicines Patent Pool To Develop Anti-Cancer Drug

Aurobindo Pharma announced that Eugia Pharma Specialities Ltd, its wholly-owned subsidiary, has entered into a voluntary sub-licensing agreement with Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to develop and market an anti-cancer drug. Aurobindo Pharma said in a regulatory filing that the sub-licensing agreement for Nilotinib capsules, which was developed by Novartis, will be in 44 low and middle-income countries (LMIC), including the seven countries where patents on the product are pending or in force.

Nilotinib capsules are prescribed to patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia. "These are the first sub-licence agreements signed by MPP for a cancer treatment that will be made available in LMICs via this licence." This product will be a good addition to Aurobindo's Oncology portfolio and will further strengthen our leadership in the generic Oncology medicine space," said K Nithyananda Reddy, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Aurobindo Pharma.

He went on to say, "We are excited to begin supplying the product as soon as possible and to help reduce the risk of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in certain patients." The product will be manufactured at Eugia Pharma Specialities Ltd. Unit-I, Medchal, in Telangana, according to the company, which also stated that it has adequate capacity to meet global demand for the product across the licenced territory.

Eugia, along with two other Indian pharmaceutical companies, Hetero and Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and the Indonesian company BrightGene, had signed sub-licence agreements with MPP to produce generic versions of Novartis' Nilotinib. These are the first sub-licence agreements signed by MPP for a cancer treatment, and they are the result of a licence agreement signed between MPP and Novartis Pharma AG in October 2022 for their patented cancer medicine, according to a statement from MPP. MPP Executive Director Charles Gore said, "We are delighted to be working with these four generic manufacturers to develop generic Nilotinib and bring an affordable treatment option to people diagnosed with CML in these countries."

"At MPP, we are determined to show that voluntary licensing is a truly impactful way of delivering affordable treatments to tackle the ever-rising burden of cancer in LMICs." The seven middle-income countries where patents on the product are pending or in force are Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tunisia.