Biocon Ltd. introduced CANMAb (150 mg/440 mg), a biosimilar trastuzumab for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in India. CANMAb, developed jointly by Biocon and Mylan under a global partnership, is the world's first biosimilar version of Herceptin and is being introduced for the benefit of patients in India. Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among Indian women ahead of cervical cancer and CANMAb will offer a high quality, more affordable option to breast cancer patients in India.

Approximately, 0.15 million new patients are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in India, of which nearly 25% cases are HER2-positive and eligible for treatment with CANMAb . Lack of affordable treatment options has limited the extent of HER2 testing and it is believed that the proportion of HER2-positive patients is probably higher. CANMAb is a targeted therapy for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer and acts by interfering with HER2 protein production and stopping the growth of cancer cells.

It is easy to administer and will be given intravenously, once every 3 weeks or on a weekly basis depending on the patient's condition. Unlike the product currently available in the market, both 150 and 440 mg formulations of CANMAb can be stored for 1 month which is an important offering for patients in India, as it will ensure that there is no under dosing or wastage of drug which is quite common. CANMAb is being manufactured at Biocon's biologics facility in Bangalore and will be available to patients around the first week of February 2014.

CANMAb will be available at about 25% discount to the current list price of the reference product in India, which is already significantly lower than its price in developed markets. In addition, CANMAb's 150 mg formulation, priced at INR 19,500/vial, will allow extra savings to patients as they can buy smaller quantities as per their requirement.