Zydus Lifesciences is one of the leading players to focus on new chemical entity (NCE) research and development in India. The company was able to successfully launch its homegrown NCE drugs Oxemia (desidustat) and Lipaglyn (saroglitazor) in the Indian market. It also partnered with Sun Pharma and Lupin to co-market desidustat and saroglitazar, respectively, in the Indian market. These partnerships will help improve the market penetration of these drugs in India, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

In March 2022, desidustat was approved in India to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), whereas saroglitazor was approved in June 2013 for diabetic dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia. In 2020, saroglitazar received approval for type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Moreover, saroglitazar is the world’s first drug to get approval for NASH.

Zydus Lifesciences recently entered into a co-marketing partnership with Sun Pharma for desidustat for anemia associated with CKD and with Lupin for saroglitazar for NAFLD and NASH. Sun Pharma will market desidustat under the brand name Rytstat, and Lupin will market saroglitazar under the brand name Linvas.

Prashant Khadayate, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “It is pleasing to see Indian big pharma players like Sun Pharma and Lupin partnering with another major domestic player, Zydus Lifesciences, for a NCE drug. It is rare to see such collaborations among big pharma companies in India. In the past, Indian pharma majors have mainly collaborated with multinational foreign players for such partnerships. It could be possibly because there was limited opportunity for such a partnership with an Indian pharma company due to the limited number of homegrown NCE drugs in their portfolio.”

According to GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center, the diagnosed prevalent cases of NASH in India are projected to increase from 10.7 million cases in 2023 to 12.6 million cases in 2029, equating to an annual growth rate of 6.46%. Similarly, the diagnosed prevalent cases of CKD anemia in India are projected to increase from 5.7 million cases in 2023 to 6.5 million cases in 2029, equating to an annual growth rate of 2.71%.

Khadayate concludes: “Saroglitazar and desidustat are targeting indications where not many new treatment options are available in India. Considering the potential patient population for these drugs and the gap in treatment options, the latest partnerships by Zydus Lifesciences will help in creating more awareness about these drugs through the expanded commercial presence of Sun Pharma and Lupin in the Indian market, leading to improved market penetration across various parts of the country.”