Zandu, CMI to jointly develop drug for Parkinson's disease

Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd and CMI India Pvt Ltd will jointly develop Zandu's anti-Parkinson's drug HP-200, one of the few plant-based formulations to receive investigational new drug status from the US Food and Drug Administration.

CMI India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centers for Medical Innovation, Germany. The German company has committed to invest $10 million in India initially.

The two companies have signed a joint development agreement under which CMI will finance clinical and pharmaceutical development of HP-200. The two companies will also work together to obtain new drug marketing approval in the US, Europe and other countries. Zandu will supply the raw material for the drug.

CMI intends to conduct phase one and two clinical trials in the US this year and expects to market the drug in five years. Zandu owns the patent for HP-200 and has agreed to share the marketing receipts with CMI.

HP-200 is sourced from Mucuna pruriens, a plant belonging to the leguminous family. According to Dr Ashok Vaidya, director of Zandu and a key official involved with pre-clinical and clinical studies on HP-200 in India, says the usefulness of Mucuna pruriens is known to treat Parkinson's disease, a progressive neuro-degenerative movement disorder affecting over one million people worldwide.

A World Bank study conducted in the US estimates $4 billion in annual cost savings if Parkinson's disease can be delayed by five years. The worldwide market for treatment of Parkinson's disease is in the range of $400-500 million.