CHENNAI : A city-based surgeon is using a ‘rare drug’ developed in Oxford University to reduce the acute rejection rate from 50 per cent to under 3 per cent. Dr Anil Vaidya, a leading Multi-Visceral transplant surgeon working as a senior consultant with Apollo Hospitals, is the only surgeon in the country who enjoys the luxury of importing Campath (Alemtuzumab) free of cost and he in turn extends the benefit to his patients. The market price of Campath is Rs 1 lakh per mg. 

Official statistics reveal out of 250 organ transplants, primarily kidney and pancreas, done by Dr Vaidya in last two years using Campath, only four came back to get treated for rejection. Dr. Vaidya told Express that he obtained licence from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to bring Campath to India.

“I was part of the team that developed Campath in Oxford and later pharmaceutical major Genzyme took over the patent rights. I was given the free access to the drug under Campath Access Programme through which Indian patients are getting benefited now.”      

Though Campath is a licensed drug for treating Multiple Sclerosis (a condition where patient central nervous system gets slowly disabled), Dr Vaidya convinced DCGI of its usage in organ transplants by presenting data of 2,500 successful transplants done between Oxford and Cambridge and obtained special license.

“Still, every patient has to get registered and obtain consent from DCGI. I submit details like audit report, patient numbers, severe adverse effects of the drug to the authority annually.”  Dr Vaidya uses 1/4th i.e 15 mg compared to 60 mg used in west because Indians are more tolerant to foreign antigen.

Campath versus others

Thymoglobulin and Basiliximab are alternatives under use currently and the rejection rate is 25 per cent 
These two are not steroid free, while Campath is steroid free