Prostate cancer is among India’s top three cancers affecting urban men | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Swiss drugmaker Novartis has launched its advanced-prostrate-cancer drug Pluvicto in India. The development comes about four months after the parent company had announced its exit from its listed entity in India.

According to Novartis India, Pluvicto (lutetium (177Lu) vipivotide tetraxetan) was the country’s first “regulatory authority approved” radioligand therapy for patients with Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-positive prostate cancer. A precision drug, it is designed to target prostate cancer cells, minimizing exposure to healthy tissues, the company said, without disclosing the medicne’s  price.

Prostate cancer is among India’s top three cancers affecting urban men, the company said, with nearly 250,000 cases every year, it added.  “Approximately 50 percent of diagnosed patients present at a metastatic stage, where treatment becomes significantly more complex due to poorer prognosis, treatment-related side effects, and challenges in treatment sequencing,” the company said.

Precision Oncology

Amitabh Dube, Novartis India’s Country President and Managing Director, said in a statement, “In India, a large proportion of prostate cancer patients continue to be diagnosed only after the disease has progressed to a metastatic stage, limiting treatment options and impacting quality of life. With the launch of Pluvicto, we are bringing a globally recognized radioligand therapy platform to India at a time when the need for precision oncology solutions is increasing rapidly.”

India’s nuclear medicine ecosystem has expanded over the past decade and presently includes more than 250 nuclear medicine  centres across the country, he said. “Novartis plans to collaborate with healthcare institutions, oncologists, nuclear medicine specialists, and hospital partners to support treatment readiness and multidisciplinary care pathways for eligible patients,” he said. The product would be made available through select hospitals and nuclear medicine centres across India as part of Novartis’ partnership-led approach for bringing radioligand therapies to India, he added.  Judith Love, Novartis Region Head Asia Pacific Middle East Africa, said, the introduction of Pluvicto marked a step in bringing globally approved innovation to patients who need more targeted treatment options.

Listed entity exit

Earlier in February, Novartis AG had said it was selling its entire 70.68 per cent stake in Novartis India Ltd (NIL) to the ChrysCapital group for ₹1,446 crore – a development that came two years after the parent company first indicated that the India listed entity was under review. The company had then indicated it would be present in India through Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, a wholly owned, unlisted subsidiary through which it has been bringing its innovative products into India.

In 2024, Novartis Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan had said the company had completed its “strategic transformation into a pure-play innovative medicines company”, focused on cardiovascular-renal-metabolic, immunology, neuroscience and oncology; with the US, China, Germany and Japan identified as geographies of growth.

Published on June 15, 2026