Intas reinforces cancer range with the first time launch of Azadine in India

Indian drugmaker Intas Pharmaceuticals says it has reinforced its oncology product range by successfully introducing the azacitidine molecule in Azadine for the first time in India.

Azacitidine, US biotech firm Celgene's (Nasdaq: CELG) Vidaza brand, induces antineoplastic activity via two mechanisms; inhibition of DNA methyltransferase at low doses, causing hypomethylation of DNA, and direct cytotoxicity in abnormal hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow through its incorporation into DNA and RNA at high doses, resulting into tumorous cell death. Azacitidine has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration since May, 2004.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow does not make enough healthy blood cells and there are abnormal (blast) cells in the blood and/or in the bone marrow. Advanced stages of MDS may lead to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). It is estimated that four-five people per 100,000 suffer from MDS/AML. Data extrapolated to Indian population from global epidemiologic studies suggest that the disease burden of MDS in India is likely to be sizeable. Also, cytogenetic studies suggest that MDS patients in India get affected by the disease at a younger age and also tend to have a higher risk.