Nahyan Bin Mubarak announces launch of Biomedicine Abraxane for treatment of cancer

Abu Dhabi, Oct 11, 2008 (WAM): Minister of Higher education and Scientific Research HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak announced on Thursday the launch of ABRAXANE in the UAE for the treatment of breast cancer.

Addressing a medical forum, in which doctors from Zayed Military Hospital and Mafraq Hospital (UAE), and King Faisal Hospital (KSA) participated, Sheikh Nahyan made the formal announcement of the launch of the new medicine, a paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension.

The new medicine is made available in UAE by NeoBiocon, a recently established biotechnology joint venture between UAE and India, and Abraxis BioScience, for the treatment of breast cancer after failure of combination therapy for metastatic disease or relapse within six months of adjuvant chemotherapy.

NeoBiocon is a joint venture between Dr. B.R. Shetty, Managing Director and CEO of Abu Dhabi based company Neopharma and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of India's Biocon Ltd.

ABRAXANE is currently available in the UAE as a single-use 100 mg vial (as a lyophilized powder, to be reconstituted for intravenous administration).

The Phase III clinical trial in the U.S. demonstrated that ABRAXANE nearly doubled the response rate, significantly prolonged time to progression, and significantly improved overall survival in the second-line setting versus solvent-based Taxol in the approved indication.

In the U.S. pivotal head-to-head trial, the overall response rate of ABRAXANE was 33pc vs. 19pc compared to Taxol and ABRAXANE achieved a 25pc percent improvement in time to tumor progression when compared to Taxol.

Sheikh Nahyan called on world medical institutions to continue to research for containing the spreading disease of breast cancer. He noted that over 400,000 women die per year in the world due to this disease, which can be cured if detected earlier and treated in right way.

Dr. B.R. Shetty remarked, 'It gives us immense pleasure to introduce world-class pharmaceutical biotech products, to the United Arab Emirates' . He added, 'NeoBiocon is committed to developing a range of products for debilitating disease segments and will offer products that cater to lifestyle disorders and oncology' .

ABRAXANE is approved for marketing in 35 countries. Abraxis has several pending patent applications in India relating to ABRAXANE. In the Asia-Pacific region, ABRAXANE is approved for marketing in China and Korea in addition to India. ABRAXANE is under regulatory review for the treatment of breast cancer by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia, the Federal Authority for Healthcare and Social Development Regulation in Russia, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan.

NeoBiocon, established at Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park (Dubiotech) in Dubai, is a JV company between Neopharma and India's Biocon Ltd. NeoBiocon's platform emerges from a symbiotic partnership between the two companies. Biocon's knowledge base and cutting-edge technology and Neopharma's manufacturing prowess and local expertise complement each other.

NeoBiocon is an initiative that heralds the region's foray to develop and market life saving biopharmaceutical niche products in key therapeutic areas such as oncology, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, cardiology, anti-obesity drugs and new generation immunosuppressant drugs.

Abraxis BioScience is a fully integrated global biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of therapeutics and core technologies that offer patients effective treatments for cancer and other critical illnesses. – Emirates News Agency, WAM