Shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories opened green but failed to keep the momentum and lost all its early gains on 21 October despite the company announcing that it has received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for Zytorvi, its immunotherapy drug, to treat advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). 

The approval allows Zytorvi, which contains toripalimab, to be used alongside chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and paclitaxel as a first-line treatment for adults with advanced, recurrent or metastatic ESCC that cannot be surgically removed.

This is the drug’s second approved indication in India. It was previously authorised for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a type of cancer affecting the area behind the nose and upper throat.

According to the company, ESCC accounts for approximately 80% of oesophageal cancer cases in India, highlighting the potential importance of additional treatment options.

The approval is supported by results from the Phase 3 JUPITER-06 clinical trial. The study found that combining toripalimab with chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 42% compared with chemotherapy alone.

The final overall-survival analysis reported a median survival of 17.7 months for patients receiving the combination treatment, against 12.9 months for those receiving chemotherapy alone. These figures represent trial results and do not guarantee individual treatment outcomes.

Dr Reddy’s entered into a licensing and commercialisation agreement with Junshi Biosciences in 2023, securing rights for toripalimab across 21 countries.

The latest approval expands the drug’s potential use in India and strengthens the company’s oncology portfolio. However, the commercial impact will depend on patient access, treatment adoption and the drug’s contribution to future revenue.

At 1:05 pm, the shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories were trading 0.35% lower at Rs 1,238.10 on NSE.

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