Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has received approval from the Chinese health authority, National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), for tildrakizumab injection, which is used for treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults.

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The product has also been approved for marketing in the United States, European Union, Japan, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong, Sun Pharma said in a filing to the stock exchanges on Tuesday.

The injection under the brand name Ilumetri is indicated for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who are undergoing systemic therapy or phototherapy.

Psoriasis is a chronic immune disease that appears on the skin. It affects about 125 million people worldwide, the pharma major said in a release.

In June 2019, Sun Pharma out-licensed tildrakizumab to a subsidiary of China Medical System Holdings Limited (CMS), for development, regulatory filings, and commercialization of the product in Greater China. CMS is Sun Pharma's exclusive partner for Ilumetri in Greater China. The agreement between the two companies is for a period of 15 years.

The innovative drug is marketed as Illumya by Sun Pharma in the US, Japan and Canada. Illumya resulted in overall sales of $477 million in financial year 2023. China could end up being the largest market for Illumya outside the US.

China has a 9 percent share in the global pharma market. Its share of injectable drug delivery in global pharma is 12 percent at $64 billion. Although US is the largest biologics market with a share of over 60 percent, China has been outperforming in terms of growth for biologics. China's Compounded Annual Growth Rate in Biologics over the last five years has been 21 percent, compared to 10-12 percent of US and Europe.

The country's largest drug maker also on Tuesday announced that it signed a licensing agreement for commercialising Philogen SpA’sspecialty product Nidlegy used for the treatment of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers.

Sun Pharma’s chief financial officer CS Muralidharan recently told CNBC-TV18 in an interview that the company is confident that its speciality sales business will continue its growth momentum in the future.

Shares of Sun Pharma are trading 1.1 percent higher at Rs 970.

First Published:May 31, 2023 12:09 PM IST