Sun Pharma innovation arm to complete clinical trials

The Covid-19 pandemic has delayed several ongoing research trials, according to Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Limited (SPARC), which stated this during its 17th Annual General Meeting last week.

The clinical stage bio-pharmaceutical division of pharmaceutical giant Sun Pharmaceutical, SPARC, began to see an increase in New Chemical Entity (NCE) assets under clinical development in the patient recruitment last year after experiencing difficulties with Covid-19-related issues in previous years.

There are numerous key clinical trials ongoing that should benefit the company’s operations. Patients are still being accepted for studies on psoriasis, lewy body dementia, chronic myelogenous leukaemia, and atopic dermatitis. SPARC also started the phase 1 investigation for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

“At the previous AGM, we had received the shareholders’ consent to fund an extra sum up to Rs 1,800 crores, which was valid for one year, in order to develop our pre-clinical assets and to increase our R&D pipeline. Due to unfavorable market conditions, the aforementioned capital raise could not be completed. Since it needs to raise up to Rs 1,800 crore ($225 million) to fund its expansion goals, the company is seeking new clearance through an enabling resolution, according to Dilip Sanghvi.

Oncology, neurology, and immunology are the three therapeutic areas that SPARC prioritizes in its hunt for new medications. The business claims that SPARC raised $148 million in FY22 to finish the ongoing clinical research.

In the near future, “the main goal of SPARC is to assure completion of the ongoing clinical trials to produce the next set of catalysts and to engage with its partners for effective commercialization of the partnered assets,” the executive stated.

Sun Pharma

For joint development initiatives aimed at new biology in the fields of oncology, neurodegeneration, and immunology, SPARC has partnered with a number of US academic institutions. SPARC made progress on a number of joint initiatives during FY 2021–2022 and also purchased the exclusive rights for an antibody against a specific oncology target from Biomodifying Inc.

After disclosing the Phase 3 study findings for its ophthalmology initiatives in the FY 2021–2022, SPARC licenced Visiox Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical business with an emphasis on ophthalmology, the commercialization rights for its products PDP-716 and SDN-037.

A new cancer antibody’s global rights were also in-licensed by SPARC. According to the company’s annual report, which was published this month, enrollment for its clinical studies was still impacted by COVID-19 even though SPARC’s lab activities resumed in earnest in 2020 and continued in 2021.

In order to increase enrollment and patient recruitment in FY 2022–2023, SPARC proceeded to implement new policies in FY 2021–2022. Vodobatinib, the company’s top asset and an anticancer drug, is now being investigated for both late-stage refractory chronic myeloid leukaemia and early-stage Parkinson’s disease

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