Many multinational drug companies use India and other developing companies for clinical trials, but domestic drug major Nicholas Piramal has decided to conduct this trial for the first time in the US for its breakthrough blood cancer drug.
Called P276, the drug for multiple myeloma (blood cancer), which has already completed Phase I trial for toxicity in India will go for Phase II clinical trial by this year-end in Dana Farber Cancer Institute in USA, Nicholas Piramal Director Swati Piramal said.
“It is a proud moment for Indian research and an important milestone because a drug discovered in Mumbai with global patents is now approved for Clinical studies in USA,” she said.
This drug approval by USFDA is even more significant because it comes from a developing country, she said. Other developing countries such as China and Israel have not got USFDA approval so far for a cancer drug study in USA.
This cancer drug discovered in 2000 has undergone a clinical trial in Canada, besides India for toxicity. This drug is believed to stop cancer cell multiplication and the toxicity effect is found to be minimal.