Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd announced that one of its wholly owned subsidiaries has entered into exclusive licensing and supply agreements with Rockwell Medical Inc. (Rockwell), to commercialize Rockwell's Triferic, a proprietary iron replacement and haemoglobin maintenance drug, for treating anaemia in hemodialysis patients in India. Triferic is approved in USA.
As per the terms of the agreement, Sun Pharma will be the exclusive development and commercialization partner for Triferic during the term of the agreement, subject to its approval in India. In consideration for the license, Rockwell will be eligible for upfront and milestone payments as well as royalty on net sales. The financial terms of the agreement are confidential.
Kirti Ganorkar, CEO of India business, Sun Pharma, said, “We are excited to build a partnership with Rockwell who has developed an innovative product, Triferic for haemodialysis patients. Triferic is an innovative anaemia therapy for the patients who are undergoing haemodialysis and offers a unique treatment option. Triferic will help Sun Pharma expand its portfolio in its core therapy areas.”
According to the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study, chronic kidney disease was the 10th leading cause of mortality in India, having risen from 14th rank in 20071. In India, there are approximately 130,000 patients receiving hemodialysis, and the number is increasing by about 232 per million population.
About Triferic
Triferic is the only USFDA-approved therapy in the U.S. indicated to replace iron and maintain haemoglobin in hemodialysis patients via dialysate during each dialysis treatment. Triferic has a unique and differentiated mechanism of action which has the potential to benefit patients and health care economics. Triferic represents a potential innovative medical advancement in hemodialysis patient iron management– with the potential to become the future standard of care. Triferic delivers approximately 5-7 mg iron with every hemodialysis treatment to the bone marrow and maintains haemoglobin without increasing iron stores (ferritin).
Triferic donates iron immediately and completely to transferrin (carrier of iron in the body) upon entry into the blood and is then transported directly to the bone marrow to be incorporated into haemoglobin, with no increase in ferritin (stored iron and inflammation) and no reports of anaphylaxis in over 1,000,000 patient administrations, addressing a significant medical need in overcoming Functional Iron Deficiency (FID) in End Stage Renal Disease patients.
