Biocon Ltd, India's leading biotechnology enterprise has notified that NeoBiocon and Abraxis BioScience have launched Arbaxan (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) in the UAE market for the treatment of breast cancer.

NeoBiocon is a joint venture between Dr. B R Shetty, MD & CEO of Abu Dhabi based Company Neopharma and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & MD of India's biotechnology major Biocon Ltd. 

Abraxane is the first nanotechnology based anti-cancer drug that is administered as albumin-bound particles of approximately 130 nanometers and takes advantage of albumin, a natural protein that acts as the body's key transporter of nutrients and other water-insoluble molecules and accumulates in tumor tissues.

In recent randomized clinical trials, the drug has demonstrated superiority in progression free survival over both Taxol Injection and Taxotere Injection. The newly launched drug is presently available in the UAE as a single-use 100 mg vial (as a lyophilized powder, to be reconstituted for intravenous administration). 

Last year in August, Abraxis established a licensing pact with Biocon for the commercialization of Abraxane, under which Biocon had given rights to market the drug in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and certain other South Asian and Persian Gulf countries.