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Drugmaker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has unveiled Versavo (bevacizumab), a biosimilar of Roche’s cancer drug Avastin, in the United Kingdom.
It is its first biosimilar product to be approved and unveiled in the U.K., Dr. Reddy’s said on Tuesday. The company’s shares closed 3.18% lower at ₹6,138.40 apiece on the BSE.
“Launch of Versavo in a highly regulated market underscores our capability for global clinical development of high-quality biosimilar products,” Global Head of Biologics at Dr. Reddy’s Jayanth Sridhar said in a release.
Versavo is a (bevacizumab) biosimilar of Avastin and indicated for treatment of several types of cancers, including metastatic colorectal cancer, advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, recurrent glioblastoma, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, advanced cervical cancer, ovarian cancer and metastatic breast cancer.
Dr. Reddy’s had launched Versavo in India in 2019 and subsequently in a few other other countries, including Thailand, Ukraine, Nepal and Jamaica. In Colombia, the product was launched under Persivia brand.
On its biosimilars programme, the drugmaker said the biosimilars business is a key strategic initiative set to drive both near-term and long-term growth and the company is ramping up manufacturing capacity to support global expansion plans.
“We have a portfolio of six commercial products marketed in India, with some marketed in more than 25 other countries. In addition, we have several products in the pipeline in oncology and auto-immune diseases in various stages of development for global launches across regulated as well as emerging markets,” Dr. Reddy’s said.
