{"id":65576,"date":"2026-05-14T22:19:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T22:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/65576\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T22:19:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T22:19:31","slug":"roche-unveils-subcutaneous-tecentriq-for-lung-cancer-treatment-in-india-etpharma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/65576\/","title":{"rendered":"Roche Unveils Subcutaneous Tecentriq for Lung Cancer Treatment in India, ETPharma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/New Delhi: Swiss Pharma major, Roche<\/a> has commercially launched a subcutaneous (SC) version of its blockbuster cancer immune-therapy Tecentriq<\/a> (atezolizumab) in India.<\/p>\n

The subcutaneous form is approved for the treatment of adjuvant and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The therapy was initially approved and launched for use as an intravenous (IV) infusion in 2018.<\/p>\n

Globally, the subcutaneous forms was approved for usage by the UK MHRA in 2023, followed by the US FDA in September 2024.<\/p>\n

The subcutaneous version is bioequivalent to the 1200 mg IV formulation but is marketed at a higher strength of 1,875 mg as fundamentally it has lower and slower absorption compared to IVs.<\/p>\n

Alongside improving patient experience and optimising healthcare resources, subcutaneous formulations also help companies to extend the commercial lifecycle of their brands and delay the potential entry of cheaper generic copies.<\/p>\n

The drug will be retailed at nearly Rs 3.7 lakh per vial.<\/p>\n

To improve therapy access for cash-paying customers, the company runs a patient support program, Blue Tree and also offer interest-free EMI options; however, eligibility criteria and upfront costs are disclosed.<\/p>\n

Patients are required to undergo six cycles of the targeted therapy, along with specific biomarker testing to become eligible for the drug. Roche<\/a> said that out of India\u2019s total 80,000 lung cancer patients, around 50 per cent are eligible for Tecentriq<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe launch of Tecentriq SC reflects our continued commitment to improving access to advanced cancer care through solutions that are faster, more convenient, support patient-centric outcomes and importantly enable health systems to be more efficient and effective in providing cancer care\u201d, said Rajwinder Mehdwan, Roche Pharma India MD and CEO.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Tecentriq targets the PD-L1 protein, which is expressed on tumour cells and tumour-infiltrating immune cells. It also helps in re-activation of T cells, required to recognize and destroy tumor expressing cells.<\/p>\n

Under multiple clinical studies, the checkpoint inhibitor has helped patients to live longer (extending overall survival) and disease fee survival as well.<\/p>\n

More recently, in the the IMvigor011 trial concluded last year, among patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, it demonstrated to reduce the risk of death by 41 per cent and relapse (disease recurrence) by 36 per cent compared with placebo.<\/p>\n

Tecentriqa patent exclusivity ruins trough 2030 and in 2025 the drug remained Roche\u2019s leading oncology asset with total sales of 3.6 billion Swiss Franc (around $4.5 billion).<\/p>\n

In the US, the drug is experiencing increasing pressure from rival biologics, however, the positive performance in international markets helped to score a 3 per cent year-onyear gain.<\/p>\n

Roche\u2019s Tecentriq competes with AstraZeneca\u2019s Imfinzi (durvalumab) and several other PD-1 inhibitors such as Merck\u2019s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Bristol Myers Squibb\u2019s Opdivo (nivolumab).<\/p>\n

Drug makers across the world have been putting a heavy purse in PD-L1 targeted immunotherapies and Indian drugmakers are also joining the segment with in-licensing deals, biosimilars, and other strategic initiatives.<\/p>\n

Targeting the dermatology segment, last year, India\u2019s largest drug maker, Sun Pharmaceuticals acquired US-based Checkpoint Therapeutics for up to $416 million to onboard its novel PD-LI inhibitor, Unloxcyt.\n <\/p>\n

Published On May 14, 2026 at 04:09 PM IST<\/p>\n

\n Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals.
\n Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox.\n <\/p>\n

All about ETPharma industry right on your smartphone! <\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Delhi: Swiss Pharma major, Roche has commercially launched a subcutaneous (SC) version of its blockbuster cancer immune-therapy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[124],"tags":[6718,35741,134,35740,7780],"class_list":["post-65576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-roche","tag-cancer-immunotherapy","tag-pd-l1-inhibitor","tag-roche","tag-subcutaneous-formulation","tag-tecentriq"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116575257659683181","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}