Intas Pharmaceuticals has lowered the cost of cancer fighting drug Bevacizumab by 60%

Intas Pharmaceuticals has announced the launch of its biosimilar cancer drug Bevacizumab at a much lower price. The company says this will bring huge relief to cancer patients across the country since it was mostly out of reach due to how expensive it was.

Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited claims to have cut the price down by 60% on bevacizumab therapy, priced at Rs. 39995 for the dose strength of 400mg variant.

According to Intas, over 7 lakh patients die due to various types of cancer in India every year. The company has rolled out this “cost-effective measure” so as to relieve bring some relief to patients from the financial burden.

The step is entirely focussed on making the drug treatment accessible to cancer patients in India thus, providing them with a beacon of hope in their fight against the disease.

Bevacizumab has been available in India since 2004 but the cost has been so prohibitive that as per eminent clinicians of the country they have been able to give this drug to very few eligible patients.

The drug works by slowing the growth of new blood vessels and is used in treating multiple-cancers like colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, lung cancer and recurrent glioblastoma (a type of brain tumour).

While Bevacizumab is sold by Roche, a Swiss drug maker, and is sold under the brand name Avastin. Other companies like Zydus Cadila, Hetero Drugs and Reliance Lifesciences had launched the biosimilar Bevacizumab last year.