Biotech major Biocon Ltd on Thursday released a new drug for treatment of cancer affecting the lung, kidney, cervical, ovaries and brain.

"The biosimilar Bevacizumab Krabeva is a monoclonal antibody drug for first line of treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and other types of the disease," said the city-based company in a statement here. As a standard treatment, the drug is given with chemotherapy to patients suffering from lung cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma and recurrent ovarian cancer. "We intend to provide an affordable therapy option for patients of various types of cancer with Krabeva, which is our second oncologic biosimilar product," said Biocon Chief Executuve Arun Chandanvarkar on the occasion.

The company has priced the drug at Rs 24,000 for 100 mg or 4 ml vials and Rs 39,990 for 400 mg or 16 ml vials. The drug has been launched after phase-3 clinical trials and approval of the company's marketing authorisation application by the Drug Controller General of India. The phase-3 clinical study involving 146 patients was conducted with regulatory approvals in the country. "The global phase-3 trial in non-small-cell lung cancer patients is being conducted at 100 sites across multiple countries using an EU and US sourced reference product," added the statement.