Cancer care gets faster: 7-minute immunotherapy launched in India

Roche has launched a subcutaneous version of Tecentriq in India for eligible lung cancer patients. The approval could shorten hospital visits and sharpen the focus on convenience in cancer care.

In Short

• The IV version has been available in India since 2018
• Globocan recorded 81,478 lung cancer diagnoses and over 75,000 deaths
• Doctors say high PD-L1 expression helps identify patients likely to benefit

Cancer patients often spend hours in hospitals receiving conventional chemotherapies or immunotherapies – often offered as first-line treatment following diagnosis of various malignancies.

Swiss-based pharma giant Roche has introduced in India the launch of a subcutaneous version of Tecentriq, a breakthrough therapy for specific lung cancers, that can be administered in a jiffy – in just about 7 minutes, under the skin.

The intravenous (IV) version of Tecentriq, which has atezolizumab as its active ingredient, was first launched in the country in 2018 to treat cancers of the lung and urinary tract but takes hours to administer.

The approval for the subcutaneous Tecentriq by India’s apex drug regulatory authority, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), comes for treating lung cancers, a malignancy earlier known to develop only in smokers but now growing fast in the country driven by high pollution levels across vast swathes of its geography.

By reducing treatment administration time to approximately 7 minutes, Tecentriq SC is a breakthrough innovation that has the potential to dramatically improve the cancer treatment experience of patients - reducing treatment time by about 80 percent, lowering indirect treatment costs, minimising the need to travel long distances, and enabling caregivers to spend less time in hospitals and more time doing what they love, Roche maintained.

As per Globocan 2022, 81,478 cases of lung cancers were diagnosed in India while more than 75,000 succumbed to the malignancy – thought to be among the most aggressive cancers. It's now the fourth most common cancer in the country, following breast, lips, oral cavity and cervical cancers.

Tecentriq, say oncologists, can be used as a first line therapy for those with high PD L-1 expression, a genetic biomarker which indicates how effective the immunotherapy will be in a patient.

Dr Sajjan Rajpurohit, a medical oncologist, said about 50–60 percent of all lung cancer patients in India test positive for this biomarker and may be qualifying for this therapy.

ALL ABOUT TECENTRIQ

Tecentriq is a type of immunotherapy, a relatively new treatment option for specific cancer cases – and often very expensive – that can dramatically improve survival and quality of life for many patients.

As compared to chemotherapy, which attacks all fast-growing cells, immunotherapies train a patient's immune system to target only the cancerous cells in the body and mostly have far better safety, toxicity and side effect profile.

These are often given either as a standalone treatment or with standard chemotherapy to many patients who qualify for the treatment based on their genetic testing results.

Now approved in 85 countries, Tecentriq's subcutaneous version is the first and only PD-(L)1 inhibitor globally with both intravenous IV and SC formulations across multiple cancers.

The SC formulation combines atezolizumab with Halozyme Therapeutics’ Enhanze drug delivery technology – which uses recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 (rHuPH20), an enzyme that temporarily increases permeability in the subcutaneous space, enabling rapid dispersion and absorption of the medicine into the bloodstream.

The maximum retail price of subcutaneous Tecentriq will be about Rs 4 lakh per vial and many patients typically need about 6 cycles in the course of full treatment, though it may vary from patient to patient depending on the disease progression.

Also, the company offers some cost relief through its patient access programme.

Citing data from global studies, said Roche, 4 out of 5 patients preferred Tecentriq SC over IV administration due to benefits such as less time in clinic, greater comfort and lower emotional distress.

Studies have also shown that subcutaneous administration is associated with less discomfort, pain, and irritation compared to IV administration, the drugmaker maintained.

According to oncologists, innovations such as subcutaneous immunotherapy have the potential to simplify treatment administration, reduce pressure on hospital beds and support more decentralised models of care beyond large metro hospitals.

Dr Amit Rauthan, chief medical oncologist with Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru stressed that India’s growing cancer burden requires us to rethink how cancer care is delivered.

“Shorter administration formats can help improve accessibility and make cancer care more practical for patients and healthcare systems alike,” he said.

According to Dr Sivabalan Sivanesan, Roche’s chief medical officer, cancer care is evolving beyond survival outcomes alone towards approaches that also prioritise patient experience, convenience and quality of life.

- Ends