Can a leprosy tablet priced at Rs 2 be the miracle cure to treat blood-cell cancer? Or can expensive injections given to treat osteoporosis in post-menopausal women be replaced with a pill that costs as little as Rs 100 for a month’s supply? These are questions Indian doctors have set out to answer as they look towards repurposing old drugs as affordable treatments for new diseases.
At the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, scientists recently found certain leprosy drugs might help treat myeloma, a type of blood cancer. Sabyasachi Sanyal, a researcher at CDRI, in collaboration with clinical haematology department of King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, screened FDA-approved drugs in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells and found that a leprosy drug — clofazimine, priced at Rs 2 per tablet — was a potent inhibitor of these cells.
 

Can a leprosy tablet priced at Rs 2 be the miracle cure to treat blood-cell cancer? Or can expensive injections given to treat osteoporosis in post-menopausal women be replaced with a pill that costs as little as Rs 100 for a month’s supply? These are questions Indian doctors have set out to answer as they look towards repurposing old drugs as affordable treatments for new diseases.
At the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, scientists recently found certain leprosy drugs might help treat myeloma, a type of blood cancer. Sabyasachi Sanyal, a researcher at CDRI, in collaboration with clinical haematology department of King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, screened FDA-approved drugs in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells and found that a leprosy drug — clofazimine, priced at Rs 2 per tablet — was a potent inhibitor of these cells.