Sun Pharmaceutical Industries today announced the roll-out of Gemcitabine InfuSMART, used in the treatment of cancer, in Europe.
“As part of its business strategy to build a meaningful and differentiating presence in the global oncology therapy market, Sun Pharma today announced the roll-out of Gemcitabine InfuSMART in Europe. InfuSMART is a technology in which oncology products are developed in a ready-to-administer (RTA) bag,” the company said in a BSE filing.
“Until now, compounding of oncology products was done at compounding centres or compounded in hospital pharmacies, an extra step before the medicine can be administered to patients.
Over the next few months, Sun Pharma will launch Gemcitabine InfuSMART across the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France.
Sun Pharma Business Head — Western Europe & ANZ, Hellen de Kloet, said: “Sun Pharma’s Gemcitabine InfuSMART ready-to-administer infusion products provide the combined advantage of long stable compounded medicine along with safety... Traditionally, such medicines are compounded at hospitals (in-house) or outsourced to compounding pharmacies, making it a time-consuming and potentially hazardous process.”
Kloet added: “Launch of InfuSMART will help us remain a meaningful player in the global oncology therapy market by offering differentiating cancer treatment solutions. We believe there are opportunities for us to expand our portfolio of ready-to-administer products across multiple therapies, where time and safety are an important element of treatment.”
Sun Pharma has received regulatory approval to produce Gemcitabine InfuSMART in eight key SKUs (stock-keeping units).
“More InfuSMART oncology products are currently in Sun Pharma’s pipeline, to be rolled out in future,” it added.
With the roll-out of Gemcitabine InfuSMART, Sun Pharma said it has become “the world’s first pharmaceutical company to manufacture and launch a licensed RTA oncology product”.