AstraZeneca moves on from Covid-19, bets big on oncology: India MD

British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s Indian arm is recalibrating its focus, now that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. In an interview with DH’s Veena Mani, AstraZeneca India Managing Director Gagandeep Singh Bedi shed light on its plans for the year ahead and how its therapies for serious ailments such as cancer will evolve.

What have been the biggest contributors of your growth in India in recent times?

Our oncology and respiratory portfolios are leading the growth. They have been steadily growing in the last three years. The year 2021 registered a growth of 46% in oncology, added by (the) respiratory (segment) which grew by 41%.

How did this happen?

We managed to have a good pipeline and scientific performances in the past few years, bringing innovation in treatment strategies for high unmet needs with close to 10 approvals of new medicines or life-cycle management indications in India. Despite the occasional setback due to the pandemic, we were able to register three major approvals - Benralizumab in severe asthma, Osimertinib for treatment after complete tumour resection and Acalabrutinib for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Two new indications approvals were added to Dapagliflozin with heart failure and chronic kidney disease. With this, we created the next wave of our innovative pipeline, ensuring the sustainable delivery of new products for patients with an unmet need.

Now that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, what will your focus be?

Our focus will be on oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory (therapies), inflammation and autoimmunity. Our impetus is on all these therapies as they are in different stages of maturity and penetration. In oncology, our focus is on redefining the treatment paradigm to eliminate the terminal nature of the disease. We are working on a few new indications as well as molecules to address the unmet needs of patients in areas such as breast cancer, diabetes, gastrointestinal cancer and severe asthma. Our beyond-the-pill solutions in partnership with societies and tech startups like Qure AI, DocOn are supporting in setting the ecosystem for patients.

Tell us about your R&D plans.

Our R&D is focused on cancer. Here we are pushing the boundaries of science to change the practice of medicine and transform the lives of patients living with cancer, with the aim of eliminating cancer as a cause of death.

Biopharmaceuticals R&D on CVRM, respiratory (issues) and immunology aims to stop, reverse, and cure these diseases by delivering innovative, life-changing medicines and solutions for patients. To do this, we need to unravel the underlying causes of these diseases by identifying novel targets linked to disease-biology to create the next generation of therapeutics. All these functions work both independently and together, and there are shared functions specialising in key scientific capabilities from medicinal chemistry to biometrics, patient safety to data science and artificial intelligence and clinical innovation to device technology.

All of this helps us accelerate discovery and development in our efforts to bring new medicines to patients. Currently, we have 39 clinical trials undergoing for newer therapies in the country.

What’s your India strategy going to be amid ongoing pricing pressures?

To continue to innovate and address the unmet needs. We are working with multiple stakeholders to augment access to healthcare and early diagnosis with the help of new-age digital solutions.

Check out the latest videos from DH: