The Russian Ministry of Health has registered Areyma (camrelizumab) for one more indication, which is the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. The drug will be produced on a full-cycle basis by Petrovax Pharm in partnership with the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, including the synthesis of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, the drugmaker’s press service told GxP News.
Plans by Petrovax to bring camrelizumab, originally developed by China’s Jiangsu Hengrui, to the Russian market became known two years ago, at the end of 2023. The cancer drug is a PD-1 inhibitor, the same class as pembrolizumab (Keytruda from MSD, Pembroria from Biocad) and nivolumab (Opdivo from BMS). Areyma was registered in Russia in the late 2024 for the treatment of nasopharyngeal and esophageal cancer.
According to estimates by Petrovax Pharm, the new approval for Areyma will provide cost savings of up to 7.5 bn rubles compared to alternative PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. “Several immunodrugs are now available to Russian specialists, but the price of therapy often determines the possibility of its widespread use. Camrelizumab can provide savings of more than 7 billion rubles in the treatment of lung cancer, which means saving many more lives,” said Mikhail Tsyferov, President of Petrovax.
In August, camrelizumab was submitted for consideration to the Ministry of Health commission that forms the list of vital and essential drugs (VED).
Furthermore, the company continues to explore additional applications for the drug, in particular, together with the Gamaleya center, it is developing an mRNA technology-based platform for combination therapy of oncological diseases.
