Zydus out-licenses desidustat in Greater China

India-based Zydus Cadila, a part of Cadila Healthcare (NSE: CADILAHC), has entered into a licensing agreement with China Medical System Holdings (CMS) for the development and commercialization of desidustat, a novel oral HIF-PH inhibitor for the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not-on-dialysis and for the treatment of anemia CKD  patients on dialysis in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan).

It has been reported that more than 120 million people are estimated to be living with CKD in China. CKD is a serious medical condition which is an unmet healthcare need involving gradual loss of functioning of kidneys eventually leading to kidney failure. If kidneys are healthy they will naturally secrete beneficial levels of a hormone called erythropoietin (EPO), which encourages red blood cell production that carry oxygen to the muscles and brain. If the kidneys are impaired they will produce reduced levels or tire of EPO production completely, leading to fatigue and anemia.

Anemia is one of the frequent complications of CKD. A survey in China showed that the prevalence of anemia in patients at CKD stage 1 to 5 were 22.0%, 37.0%, 45.4%, 85.1%, and 98.2%, respectively. The target-achieving rate was only 8.2% for anemia patients in non-dialysis CKD and 35.2% for dialysis CKD, showing unmet healthcare need3.