Venus Remedies has bagged a patent from the United States Patent Office for Achnil, a once-a-day painkiller injection developed by the Venus Medicine Research Centre (VMRC), the R&D wing of Venus Remedies. The patent will remain in force till 2032.
“The formulation will be commercialised in the US market through technology transfer/outlicensing of exclusive marketing rights route, and we are open to such deals,” said Dheeraj Aggarwal, Chief Financial Officer, Venus Remedies.
Containing aceclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), Achnil is a pioneering product developed by the VMRC in its efforts to develop a controlled release formulation based on the novel drug delivery system. While the US represents the largest market for pain management worldwide, NSAIDs account for 28 per cent of the global painkiller market, the size of which was $10.22 billion in 2013.
Achnil, the aceclofenac-based formulation can relieve acute as well as chronic pain and inflammation arising from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lower back pain, ankylosing spondylitis, and dental, post-traumatic pain, gynaecological and cancer-related pains. It took the VMRC more than five years to develop this product, which has received an overwhelming response from the medical fraternity in India since it was launched in the country two years ago.
“In view of the rise in the population of elderly people in regulated markets and absence of safer pain management therapies, the demand for better products to address acute and chronic pains is also on the rise. We have developed Achnil to address this unmet need,” said Dr Manu Chaudhary, Joint Managing Director, Venus Remedies, and Director, Research, VMRC.
Venus has also secured a US patent for its novel research products Elores, Potentox and Vancoplus.
EP News Bureau–Mumbai