ICGEB & Sun Pharma sign an exclusive agreement to develop novel botanical drug for treatment of Dengue

Through this agreement, Sun Pharma commits development of Cissampelos pariera (Cipa), a botanical drug in collaboration with ICGEB.

According to Dr Dinakar M. Salunke, Director ICGEB, New Delhi: “Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease, poses a significant global public health risk. In tropical countries such as India where periodic dengue outbreaks can be correlated to the high prevalence of the mosquito vector, circulation of all four dengue viruses (DENVs) and the high population density, a drug for dengue is being increasingly recognized as an unmet public health need. Using the knowledge of traditional Indian medicine, we explored the indigenous herbal bio-resource to identify plants with pan-DENV inhibitory activity and identified Cipa as a safe, affordable and effective solution.”

Commenting on the company’s partnership with ICGEB, Mr Kirti Ganorkar, Senior Vice President – Business Development & Portfolio Management, Sun Pharma said: “Dengue poses a significant global public health risk. In tropical countries like India where dengue outbreaks are significantly intense, a drug for dengue is recognised as an unmet public health need. Our partnership with ICGEB aims to develop Cipa as a safe, effective & affordable botanical drug for treatment of dengue.”

The terms of this agreement permits Sun Pharma’s access to all the intellectual properties of this drug cross 17 countries. ICGEB will establish assay systems for development of Cipa for treatment of dengue infection for a predefined period of time. ICGEB will work exclusively with Sun Pharma for the development of this drug and clinical treatment strategies based on botanical and phyto-pharmaceuticals. Sun Pharma will pay royalties on sales post commercialisation. Other financial details of this agreement are confidential.

A botanical drug is a plant-derived medicinal product that is intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease in humans. These medicines are based on complex botanical compounds and can offer multiple agent solution, selectively and differentially affecting various target tissues. These characteristics make botanical drugs safe and effective. As any other new drug, Sun Pharma will scientifically substantiate the safety and effectiveness, manufacture under appropriate standards and build a strong intellectual property base to support commercialization of its botanical dengue drug.

India represents nearly 50% of the global population estimated to be at risk of dengue. Severe dengue, which is potentially fatal, correlates with very high virus load, reduction in platelet counts and haemorrhage. Antiviral therapy to reduce high virus load may be beneficial in attenuating disease severity. ICGEB and Sun Pharma through this collaboration are developing innovative botanical opportunities to identify herbal options that could be source of dengue inhibitory activity. The developmental efforts of this collaboration will aim to explore how the extract prepared from Cipa Linn can inhibit the replication of virus in living cells against dengue infection.