Zydus' diabetes drug Lipaglyn becomes India's first NCE to reach the market

Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila today (June 5) made a breakthrough in its research efforts with Lipaglyn (saroglitazar), a novel drug targeted at treating diabetic dyslipidemia or hypertriglyceridemia in type 2 diabetes, not controlled by statins alone, gaining approval for launch in India by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

With a novel action that offers lipid and glucose lowering effects in one molecule, Lipaglyn is the first glitazar to be approved anywhere in the world and the first New Chemical Entity (NCE) discovered and developed indigenously by an Indian pharma company.

"Lipaglyn provides patients suffering from diabetic dyslipidemia the option of a once-daily oral therapy that has a beneficial effect on both lipid parameters as well as glycemic control," said Pankaj Patel, chairman and managing director, Zydus Cadila, adding: "It has always been our dream to take a molecule right from the concept stage up to its launch. Today, we have realized this dream. It is an important breakthrough and I would like to dedicate this to all the Indian research scientists in the field of drug discovery."