Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories RDY announced that it has launched a biosimilar of Coherus BioSciences’ CHRS Loqtorzi (toripalimab) in India under the brand name Zytorvi for the treatment of adults with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (RM-NPC), a rare form of head and neck cancer.

Loqtorzi, a novel anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, is a new biological entity that has been developed by Coherus in collaboration with China-based Junshi Biosciences. In October 2023, CHRS announced the FDA’s approval of Loqtorzi in combination with cisplatin gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of adults with RM-NPC. The drug was also approved as a monotherapy for treating adults with recurrent unresectable, or metastatic NPC with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. Loqtorzi is the first and only FDA-approved immuno-oncology drug for this carcinoma indication.

Consequently, Coherus launched Loqtorzi in the U.S. market in early 2024. The drug is also currently approved in other geographies, including the EU and the U.K. for treating the RM-NPC indication. Coherus as well as its partners plan to further evaluate Loqtorzi in multiple clinical studies for various other oncology indications.

Year to date, shares of Dr. Reddy’s have gained 1.2% compared with the industry’s 11.6% growth.

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RDY’s Strategic Collaboration to Market Toripalimab in India

In 2023, Dr. Reddy’s signed a licensing and commercialization agreement with Junshi Biosciences for Toripalimab. Through this partnership, Dr. Reddy’s secured exclusive rights to develop and market Toripalimab in 21 countries, including India, South Africa, Brazil and several Latin American nations.

The agreement also includes provisions to expand the scope of the license to additional regions, such as Australia, New Zealand and nine other countries. With RDY’s launch of the Loqtorzi biosimilar in India, it became the third country globally, after China and the United States, to gain access to this next-generation PD-1 inhibitor.

Patients suffering from NPC face poor prognosis in advanced stages. India is among the top five countries in the world in terms of disease burden for this indication. GLOBOCAN 2022 reported more than 120,000 newly diagnosed NPC cases worldwide in 2022. In India, 6,519 new cases were recorded, with the highest age-adjusted incidence rates observed in the northeastern states. Kohima, Nagaland, reported the highest incidence at 19.4 cases per 100,000 population.

Toripalimab, in earlier clinical studies, has demonstrated superior outcomes for RM-NPC compared to the standard-of-care chemotherapy (gemcitabine and cisplatin), thereby meeting a significant unmet need for patients with NPC in India. The combo regimen of toripalimab and standard-of-care chemotherapy has demonstrated a 48% reduction in risk of progression or death in RM-NPC patients.

RDY’s Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Dr. Reddy’s currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked pharma stocks are Pfizer PFE and Gilead Sciences GILD, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Over the past 60 days, Pfizer’s earnings estimates have risen from $2.62 to $2.91 per share for 2024, while that for 2025 has increased from $2.84 to $2.91. PFE shares have lost 10.3% year to date.

Pfizer’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 74.50%.

Over the past 60 days, Gilead Sciences’ earnings estimates have risen from $3.79 to $4.32 per share for 2024 while that for 2025 has increased from $7.24 to $7.38. GILD shares have risen 14.1% year to date.

Gilead Sciences’ earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same in one, delivering an average surprise of 15.46%.

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