Pharmaceutical company Venus Remedies on Thursday received marketing authorisation from the Saudi Arabian drug regulator for Docetaxel, which is widely used in chemotherapy.
The move is aimed at making Venus Remedies' entire oncology product portfolio available in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCE) region.
The development comes three months after the company secured good manufacturing practices (GNP) certification from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) for all its production facilities at its unit in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.
The demand for Docetaxel has been increasing worldwide with the rising cases of breast, prostate, stomach, and non-small cell lung cancers. Docetaxel is used as a first line of treatment in chemotherapy.
Venus Remedies is already a market leader for its key antibiotic products in Saudi Arabia where it has nine marketing approvals, including three in the oncology segment.
The $102 billion market for Docetaxel is expected to grow to $184 billion by 2030 globally at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3 percent.
Docetaxel's market in Saudi Arabia is projected to grow to $13.1 billion in 2031 from $7.8 billion in 2021.
Last month, the company's German arm Venus Pharma GmbH obtained marketing approval from the United Kingdom for the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin. Besides, it secured marketing authorisation for two more widely used cancer drugs from the Philippines.
Shares of Venus Remedies are trading 1.20 percent higher at Rs 240.95.
