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• Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited launches Risorine, world’s first boosted-Rifampicin containing fixed-dose combination
• Risorine uses lower dose of Rifampicin (200 mg instead of 450 mg) but maintains the same efficacy. Addition of Piperine inhibits auto induction and maintains the same level throughout therapy. This is where it scores above the earlier modes of treatment of tuberculosis

Ahmedabad based Pharma major Cadila Pharmaceuticals has come up with a new product called RISORINE. Adding to the company’s long list of ‘firsts in the world’, Risorine promises to alter the way tuberculosis is treated at a global level. It is a boosted-Rifampicin containing fixed-dose combination product that has been approved in India for use as an anti-tubercular drug.

Risorine is of crucial importance because currently, tuberculosis is one of the major contagious diseases killing millions of people worldwide and has particularly devastating effects in the third world countries. And what is making the situation worse is that virtually no major initiative towards the improvement of the treatment of tuberculosis has been taken in recent years. It is this grim scenario that makes the efforts of Cadila Pharmaceuticals all the more significant.

Tuberculosis is considered to be a disease of the third world or developing countries. Southeast Asia region, with 4.97 million TB Cases, carries over one- third of the global burden of TB. Annually 1.8 million new cases are detected of which 5% TB patients are estimated to be HIV infected. WHO report reveals that more than 3.25 lakhs people in India had died of TB in 2005 alone. As regards the treatment burden for TB is concerned, it indirectly costs $3 billion to the society and direct cost is $300 million.

According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India is the highest Tuberculosis burden country in the world having 2 deaths every 3 minutes. TB also is the most common opportunistic infection in patients infected with HIV. Lifetime risk of contracting Tuberculosis is five times more in HIV patients than normal population.

In the field of treatment of tuberculosis, Rifampicin has been a first line anti-tubercular drug for a long time now. It has been used for the chemotherapy of Tuberculosis since 1960s and it is known for causing lots of side effects. Also, the levels of Rifampicin in blood decrease over a period of time due to the auto-induction of drug metabolizing enzymes by Rifampicin. This results in sub-therapeutic levels of Rifampicin causing treatment failure in Tuberculosis. It is in such a scenario that Cadila Pharmaceuticals has come up with RISORINE, a boosted-Rifampicin containing fixed-dose combination product that has been approved in India for use as an anti-tubercular drug.

The novelty of RISORINE lies in the fact that it contains Piperine. Addition of Piperine inhibits auto induction and maintains same level throughout therapy. It also allows to use lower dose of Rifampicin (200 mg instead of 450 mg). It also has lower gastro-intestinal side effects. Risorine is the outcome of Public Private Partnership between Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (Formerly known as Regional Research Laboratory), Jammu, an institute of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India and Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

In a multi-centric clinical trial conducted across India in patients with radiologically confirmed diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis, more than 90% of the patients treated with Risorine were cured of Tuberculosis with comparatively lesser side effects and better safety profile. The areas in which Risorine scores over the earlier modes of treatment are that it is not only cost effective but also safe and more effective.

At a time when the threat of tuberculosis still looms large over the society and the state is incurring huge expenditures for its treatment, the advent of Risorine surely comes as a boon. The huge number of tuberculosis cases detected annually in India can definitely be checked and a cost effective solution be provided with help of Risorine.

Expressing concern over the current state of tuberculosis treatment and also referring to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report released in March-2008, the chairman of Cadila Pharmaceuticals Mr. Indravadan Modi said, “Tuberclosis is a major cause of many illnesses and deaths worldwide. Globally, 9.2 million new cases and 1.7 million deaths from TB occurred in 2006. India is home to over 3.4 million tuberculosis patients - about one-fifth of the global figure - making it the most TB prevalent country.” But he also spoke enthusiastically about the new ray of hope that has emerged in the otherwise bleak arena of tuberculosis treatment, “In the given situation, the launch of RISORINE is our endeavor to combat Tuberculosis in a more efficient and cost effective way .The launch of RISORINE is also a step forward towards Cadila Pharmaceuticals’ philosophy to provide Quality medicine at an affordable price.” 

One has to admit that Mr. Modi could not have been more correct. At a time when the Ahmedabad based pharma major, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, is already making waves with its ‘wonder drug’ Polycap, the unmatched features offered by RISORINE will certainly add a new dimension in the field of TB treatment globally.

About Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is one of the largest privately held pharmaceutical companies in India, headquartered at Ahmedabad, in the State of Gujarat. Over the last five decades, it has been developing and manufacturing pharmaceutical products and selling and distributing these in India and in over 50 countries around the world. It is an integrated healthcare solutions provider with a pharmaceutical product basket in therapeutic areas that include cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, analgesics, haematinics, anti-infectives and antibiotics, respiratory agents, antidiabetics and immunologicals. The state-of-the-art Research and Development (R&D) facility at Cadila Pharmaceuticals is manned by more than three hundred and fifty scientists. The company also participates in Public-Private partnerships for developing preventive and curative pharmaceutical and diagnostic products. Over the last decade, Cadila Pharmaceuticals has focused on novel approaches to cancer management and is the first Indian company to get multiple investigational new drug applications (INDs) cleared by USFDA. The company has  manufacturing facilities conforming to the most stringent international norms at Dholka, Ankleshwar, Kadi and Hirapur in Gujarat; Samba in Jammu and Kashmir and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.  Cadila Pharmaceuticals has recently emerged on the World map with the development of Polycap - a novel and world’s first drug combination for prevention of Cardiovascular Heart Disease.

CPL Biologicals is a newly formed company evolved from a joint venture by Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Novavax, Inc. CPL Biologicals will be developing and manufacturing vaccines, biological therapeutics and diagnostics in India using technology contributed from Novavax and Cadila Pharmaceuticals.  In addition, CPL Biologicals will establish manufacturing facilities in India and develop, produce and sell products such as seasonal influenza vaccine and potentially other novel vaccines against dengue fever and chikungunya fever based on Novavax’s virus-like-particle (VLP) vaccine technology.