Novartis brings in its Advanced-Prostrate-Cancer Drug to India
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has introduced its advanced prostate cancer medication Pluvicto in India. The progress occurs approximately four months following the parent company's announcement of its withdrawal from its publicly traded entity in India.
As per Novartis India, Pluvicto (lutetium (177Lu) vipivotide tetraxetan) marked the nation’s first radioligand therapy that received approval from regulatory authorities for individuals with Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-positive prostate cancer.
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According to the company, it is a precision drug aimed at targeting prostate cancer cells while reducing impact on healthy tissues, although the price of the medication has not been revealed.
Prostate cancer ranks as one of the top three cancers impacting urban men in India, the company stated, noting approximately 250,000 cases annually. “About 50 percent of diagnosed patients show up at a metastatic stage, making treatment considerably more complicated due to a worse prognosis, side effects from treatment, and difficulties in treatment sequencing,” the company stated.
India's nuclear medicine landscape has grown in the last 10 years and now comprises over 250 nuclear medicine facilities nationwide, he stated.
“Novartis plans to collaborate with healthcare institutions, oncologists, nuclear medicine specialists, and hospital partners to support treatment readiness and multidisciplinary care pathways for eligible patients,” he says.
The product will be accessible through chosen hospitals and nuclear medicine facilities throughout India as a part of Novartis’ collaborative strategy for introducing radioligand therapies in the country, he mentioned.
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Judith Love, Novartis Region Head for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, stated that the launch of Pluvicto represented progress in delivering globally sanctioned innovation to patients requiring more specialized treatment alternatives.
In early February, Novartis AG announced it would sell its complete 70.68 percent stake in Novartis India Ltd (NIL) to the ChrysCapital group for Rs.1,446 crore, marking a change that followed two years after the parent company first suggested that the India-listed entity was being evaluated.
The company subsequently stated it would establish a presence in India via Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, a wholly owned, unlisted subsidiary that has been introducing its innovative products to the Indian market.
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In 2024, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan stated that the company had finalized its “strategic transformation into a pure-play innovative medicines firm,” concentrating on cardiovascular-renal-metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, with the US, China, Germany, and Japan recognized as growth regions.