New Brand Launch: Biocon introducing KRABEVA, a biosimilar Bevacizumab

Biocon Ltd, Asia’s premier biopharmaceuticals company, has launched KRABEVA, a biosimilar Bevacizumab for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and other types of lung, kidney, cervical, ovarian and brain cancers, in India.

• Brand Positioning / USPs:

– It is the world´s first and only Bevacizumab with a unique ´Qual­Check´ mechanism, which will ensure that patients get a quality-ascertained product right upto infusion.
– KRABEVA is being introduced with an innovative temperature-sensitive packaging that includes thermo-chromic stickers, which change colour irreversibly if the cold chain temperature is not maintained. This first-of-its-kind ´Qual Check´ feature ensures quality check of the product up to the point of administration to the patient. This will provide greater confidence to pharmacists, nurses and caregivers about the quality of the product they are dispensing and will enable better patient safety.

• Indications:

Bevacizumab is indicated as a first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), and is accepted as a standard treatment option in combination with chemotherapy for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSLC), metastatic renal cell carcinoma and recurrent ovarian cancer.

• Pricing:

It is being offered to patients at an MRP of Rs 24,000 for 100 mg / 4 ml vials and Rs 39,990 for 400 mg / 16 ml vials, making it a high quality affordable alternative to the innovator brand.

• Clinical Trials:

KRABEVA is being launched post successful completion of Phase III clinical trials and approval of Biocon´s Marketing Authorization Application by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

Biocon´s biosimilar Bevacizumab has been developed for global markets with a clear focus to meet strict quality and regulatory requirements and provide access to a high quality biosimilar to patients.

The Phase III clinical study involving 146 patients of mCRC, has been conducted after obtaining regulatory approvals in India. The extrapolation to other indications has been approved by the DCGI.

The global Phase III trial in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSLC) patients is being conducted at more than 100 sites across multiple countries using an EU and US sourced reference product. Prior to this, a three-way Phase I PK study in healthy volunteers was conducted in Europe.

• MoA of Bevacizumab – Antiangiogenesis Targeted Therapy

Bevacizumab is a monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor- A (VEGF-A), a cell protein that induces growth of blood vessels that feed tumors. By blocking this protein, Bevacizumab cuts the supply of food and oxygen to the tumor, thus starving it. Bevacizumab is prescribed in the treatment of several cancers including metastatic colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, recurrent glioblastoma, cervical cancer and renal cancer.