Novartis may consider production of anti-cancer drug in Russia

A new drug for the treatment of lung cancer may soon be launched in the Russian market by Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX), which registered its Zikadia (ceritinib) in the Russian state register of drugs, aiming to participate in public procurements in Russia later this year, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

The company might consider localization of production of Zikadia at the facilities of its newly-built plant in St Petersburg, but currently has no such plans, a spokeswoman for Novartis in Russia confirmed to TPL.

This drug was approved in Europe in 2015 for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and the expression of anaplastic lymphoma kinase. In 2017, the European Commission expanded the list of indications for the use of Zikadia, under the trade name Zykadia, including it as a first-line drug. In Russia, Zikadia is not yet included in the list of vital and essential medicines (VED).