'Olumiant Is Already Present In 50 Countries Around The World With More Than 22,000 Patients On It'

Eli Lilly and Company (India) recently announced the launch of Olumiant (baricitinib), marking the company’s entry into the autoimmune segment in India. Luca Visini, Managing Director, Eli Lilly and Company India, divulges more details about the once-daily oral medication for adult patients with moderate-to-severe active rheumatoid arthritis, it ability to provide relief to those who have responded inadequately to, or who are intolerant to one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), his company’s plans for this segment, its larger vision for the Indian market and more, in an exclusive tete-a-tete with Lakshmipriya Nair

You have announced the company’s entry into the autoimmune segment in India?

Tell us more about it. It is a very exciting moment, part of that is also luck. This year we’re celebrating 25 years of Lilly’s presence in India. So, it’s a very symbolic time, marking a quartercentury. Today we’re specifically talking about one of those innovations that have characterised Lilly’s presence in India, and we’re talking about the autoimmune space. This, for us, is an important news because it’s the first time that we are entering the autoimmune space for Eli Lilly and Company and we are talking about this at an auspicious time. Just a couple of days before the World Arthritis Day when we’re bringing in the market a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.

Can you give us an overview on the problem posed by rheumatoid arthritis and the challenges in its management?

Talking about numbers, four to five million people in India are said to be suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Women are three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than men and the age during which they are likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis is around 30 to 50 years. It’s a bit early in the lifecycle, and part of the challenge is that around 50 per cent of the people who have been treated with conventional drugs do not achieve remission, they do not feel better, or they feel better in the beginning and then they go back.

It’s not only about the mobility or the stiffnesses; it’s also the pain that comes with it, like holding a pen, getting a cup of coffee or participating in social events. Thus, in rheumatoid arthritis, despite multiple options already in the market, multiple types of therapies, their problems are still huge.