Dabur launches drug for cancer, leprosy

By siliconindia   |   Monday, 09 September 2002, 19:30 IST
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The pharmaceuticals division of Dabur India Ltd has launched Thalidomide, a new drug formulation for treating Myeloma, a kind of blood cancer, and Erythma Nodusum Leprosum (ENL), a painful skin condition associated with leprosy.

NEW DELHI: Dabur is the first Indian company to get approval from the Drug Controller General of India for manufacturing and marketing this new drug, report news agencies. The company has launched Thalix, the brand name of Thalidomide, in capsules. Officials expect that this prescription-based drug would sold in selected cancer hospitals and, institutions and nursing homes only. This restricted availability of Thalidomide also follows guidelines by the DCGI wherein post-marketing surveillance study needs to be conducted for every new drug for an initial period of two years. "Patients suffering from these diseases have been importing this drug at exorbitant rates in the past. It is now available in India at a very competitive price", Ajai Vij, president, Pharmaceuticals Division, Dabur India Ltd, was quoted by a news agency as saying. In the late 1950s,use of Thalidomide by expectant mothers raised concerns worldwide when several deformities were reported in new born babies following the use by mothers during pregnancy. The drug was later banned and withdrawn from most markets. However, Thalidomide has recently been found to be effective in curing ENL and Multiple Myeloma worldwide, Vij recalled.