Jamaican pharmaceutical company Indies Pharma is releasing new branded generic prescription drugs of varying strengths into the local market.

Biocept (Mycophenolate Mofetil), which in conjunction with other drugs, prevents the rejection of transplant organs; Herpox tablets and the cream; Acyclovir, used to treat chickenpox and other herpes infections; and the broad spectrum antifungal Itranox are the products which will now be available on the island.

Biocept, used in kidney, heart, or liver transplant cases of both adults and children, prevents the rejection of transplant organs which occurs when the immune system of the recipient attacks the transplanted organ.

In revealing the motivation for releasing the drug, founder and CEO of Indies Group Dr Guna Muppuri recalled that “just before the pandemic, one request came from Bustamante Hospital for Children from one of the paediatric surgeons”.

“A child was going through a liver transplant,” the CEO related. “That was an eye-opener for me. What is the need for this drug?”

Muppuri stated that the price of the drug, which was a significant constraint, will soon be mitigated by Indies’ registration for the same product.

He believes the medication can help in relieving the inundation of patients relying on dialysis machines in hospitals.

Dialysis is not a permanent solution, but rather a short-term or temporary remedy, he explained, while ideally a new kidney would be the ultimate solution.

“So our intention is to bring back this drug and make it very affordable,” Muppuri said, explaining that the objective of Indies Pharma is to subsidise the cost of the product, making it competitive with other available generic options and enabling greater accessibility for all.

Referring to another of the new releases, the CEO revealed that “Herpox is a good old days drug which is primarily used for chickenpox and any other herpes-related illness. That’s the bottom-line drug of choice but there are other options available, too”.

“Going forward we will be one of those principal suppliers for the National Health Fund for this particular drug,” he added.

Muppuri mentioned that Indies Pharma is eagerly awaiting the approval of other registration dossiers they have submitted over the past three years, but noted that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the approval process of the Ministry of Health and the Drug Regulatory Affairs Department resulting in significant backlogs.

“So that’s very critical if they can speed up a little bit with all the approvals that are pending for the past three years,” Muppuri suggested. “That will make a big difference to the national coffers and also the private sector. We will be able to bring more generics to the market. And when you bring more generics to the market, the price becomes competitive to also reduce the cost burden on the public sector,” he explained.