Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has slashed the price of breast cancer drug Trastuzumab by 70 per cent to ₹15,749 for a 440 mg vial from ₹54,000, a company official told businessline.
The drug is marketed in India as ‘Trumab’ and the price reduction will make it the most affordable option in the country, a note from the company said.
Trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody used to treat the aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer for many years now. The cost of Trastuzumab has been a barrier for many patients in the country, with most brands priced ₹40,000-54,000 for a 440 mg vial, the note said.
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“Considering that a patient needs to undergo a minimum of 18 cycles (12 months) of treatment, the average cost of treatment ranges from ₹4-5 lakh for early breast cancer and can exceed ₹5 lakh for advanced/metastatic cases,” it added. This is a financial burden for many families, with nearly 60 per cent paying for treatment out-of-pocket.
Alok Malik, Executive Vice-President and Head of India Formulations, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, said the price reduction would not only increase access to the medicine but also “hope to cover 75 per cent of self-paying HER2-positive breast cancer patients in India”.
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Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in India, accounting for 13.5 per cent of all cases, with an estimated 1.78 lakh new cases diagnosed each year. The incidence of HER2-positive breast cancer in the Indian population is 26-50 per cent, the note added.
HER2-positive
“All breast cells have and are tested for an excess of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, commonly referred to as HER2. HER2 proteins are receptors that control how the cells grow and divide. When breast tissue has extra HER2 receptors (overexpression), breast cells can multiply too quickly. The growth may become uncontrolled and lead to a tumor. Breast cancer identified as HER2-positive tends to grow faster, spread and come back (recur). This protein helps cancer cells grow and spread. Trastuzumab works by binding to the HER2 protein and blocking its activity,” the company explained.