Cadila seeks approval for new obesity & diabetes drug
POSTED June 5, 2009 - 08:27 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on June 5, 2009 - 10:53
The drug, being designed and developed at the Zydus Research Centre, is said to have displayed a better efficacy and safety profile.
Effective and safe
The pharmaceutical giant claimed that the drug, ZYD I, is a novel Glucagon-like peptide 1(GLP-1) candidate in the domain of anti-diabetic agents known as incretin mimetics.
Incretins, a new class of drugs, came to the forefront in May of 2005 when the world's first GLP-1 agonist, a molecule that fulfills the criteria for being an incretin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), premier food and drug watchdog in the United States.
During the preclinical tests on animal molecues, ZYD1 demonstrated a favorable impact on glucose reduction, HbA1c reduction and weight loss. No nausea-like symptoms and absence of antibody generation was reported during the preclinical studies.
Pankaj Patel, chairman and managing director of Cadila Healthcare, said, "The discovery of the novel GLP-1 agonist, ZYD1, using our discovery platform technology is an important achievement for us. We believe that it holds promising commercial potential as a best-in-class candidate due to unmet medical needs in the treatment of diabetes."
Diabetes in India
At present, there are 41 million diabetics in India. The future looks only more ominous as India races into modernization, urbanization and sedentary lifestyles. The number of diabetics is expected to rise to a staggering 75 million by 2025.
Close to 14 million cases of diabetes remain undiagnosed in India. 50 percent cases of diabetes in rural India and 30 percent in urban areas go undiagnosed.
Cadila Healthcare Limited
The pharmaceutical company’s operations range from active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to formulations, animal health products and cosmeceuticals. With more than 375 research professionals, Cadila boasts of an in-house facility to carry out research from concept to IND enabling pre-clinical development stage.
At present, the research centre has over 20 ongoing discovery programs with several candidates in the pre-clinical development stage.
