Biocad sets sights on being leading supplier of cancer drugs in Russia

Russian drugmaker Biocad is eyeing becoming the largest supplier of oncology drugs for state needs, achieving this by producing analogues of some popular drugs for the treatment of cancer. For example, the company was the first in Russia to start clinical trials of pertuzumab, an analogue of Swiss pharma giant Roche's (ROG: SIX) Perjeta drug, and is registering a pembrolizumab-based generic at present, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

According to the Russian Kommersant business paper, so far Biocad has received permission from the Ministry of Health for comparative clinical trials of the first phase of the drug used in the treatment of breast cancer based on pertuzumab and Roche’s Perjeta.

Pertuzumab is used together with trastuzumab, an analogue – also termed a biosimilar for biologicals - which is already produced by Biocad. The patent for pertuzumab expires in Europe in March 2023 and in the USA in June 2024, and Biocad became the first company in the Russian Federation to start testing the drug.