Venus Remedies gets marketing approval for cancer drugs from Philippines, Iraq
Having secured its first marketing authorisation from Iraq, the company expects this approval for gemcitabine from the $2.5-billion pharmaceutical market to facilitate the registration process in other Middle East countries as well, considering that many of them have similar regulatory requirements and processes.
New Delhi: Pharma major Venus Remedies Ltd. on Tuesday said it has further consolidated its position in the oncology space with marketing authorisation from Philippines and Iraq for two more widely used cancer drugs.
While Venus Remedies has secured marketing approval for bleomycin from Philippines, the second largest market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region, it has entered the Iraq market for the first time with a product registration for gemcitabine, the Panchkula-based company said in a statement.
Saransh Chaudhary, President, Global Critical Care, Venus Remedies dubbed it as a decisive step towards achieving the company's goal of emerging as the top oncology medicine supplier from India in the ASEAN region and further expanding the reach of its oncology products in the Middle East and North Africa market.
'These marketing approvals from Philippines and Iraq will enable us to not only enhance our global reach, but also provide access to life-saving treatment to more and more patients in line with our focus area of meeting unmet medical needs in oncology and other critical-care segments,' said Chaudhary.
The $5-billion pharmaceutical market of Philippines, a growing market for cancer drugs, where Venus Remedies has so far secured marketing approval for 37 products across various segments, presents immense opportunities to expand its operations in the Asia-Pacific region in general and Southeast Asia in particular.
'While we have more than 140 marketing authorisations in the ASEAN region, including 110 for oncology drugs, we are banking on the product registration for bleomycin from the Philippines to pave the way for faster approval of this drug in other ASEAN countries,' said Chaudhary.
Venus Remedies has already submitted dossiers to the health ministry of the Philippines government for another 50-odd marketing authorisations. Most of these pending approvals are for oncology products.
Pertinently, Philippines, where the market size of cancer drugs was valued at $252 million in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.7% by 2025, also accounts for the highest revenue for Venus Remedies from the ASEAN region.
Having secured its first marketing authorisation from Iraq, the company expects this approval for gemcitabine from the $2.5-billion pharmaceutical market to facilitate the registration process in other Middle East countries as well, considering that many of them have similar regulatory requirements and processes.
Since having a product registered in Iraq, one of the largest markets in the MENA region, can provide a reference point for the registration of other products across this region, it can help streamline the registration process by providing a framework to different regulatory authorities to evaluate and compare the safety and efficacy data of new products, said the company
Read also: Venus Remedies bags UK MHRA marketing nod for chemotherapy drug Cisplatin
