Analysts' views on Zydus and CMS partnership for desidustat in China

Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila’s licensing agreement with China Medical System (CMS) last month for the development and commercialization of desidustat will provide a momentous boost to the overall commercialization strategy for the anemia drug, says analytics firm GlobalData.

Desidustat, an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor (HIF-PHI), is indicated for the treatment of anemia in non-dialysis and dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. CMS will be responsible for the development, registration and commercialization of desidustat in China while Zydus will receive an initial upfront payment, regulatory and sales milestones, and royalties on the net sales of the drug.

Bhavani Nelavelly, pharma analyst at GlobalData, says: “Desidustat is currently in Phase III clinical trials  in India, and it is anticipated that the CMS-Zydus partnership will reduce development time, as CMS is well financed and is trying to build up portfolio with the product-focused investments, which would help to manage risk and investments associated with the product.”