Kee Pharma offers Melagenina Plus for vitiligo patients

Chennai: The Rs 15-crore-turnover unlisted Kee Pharma has introduced Melagenina Plus, the globally trusted therapy for vitiligo, for the first time in the Indian pharma market. Melagenina Plus is manufactured in Centro de Histoterapia, Havana, Cuba.

Vitiligo, often referred to as leucoderma, is an acquired skin disease characterised by patches of unpigmented skin (often surrounded by a heavily pigmented border). Vitiligo can hardly be called as a disease, but a cosmetic problem that has more social than medical significance.

Due to retarded melanin formation, there would be a loss of pigmentation. The global prevalence of vitiligo is 2 per cent including among the white skin communities. However, epidemiologically higher cases are recorded in India and Mexico.

Says Kee Pharma head (international marketing) Dr Alok Dev: "The drug needs to be used in the stable vitiligo type and not in the active stage." In all, over 13,000 patients from 123 countries have been treated by Melagenina Plus in the initial 15 years of its launch in Cuba.

Priced at Rs 3,600 per bottle, Melagenina Plus is a topical lotion for external application. It has no side-effects and is easy to apply. International clinical trials have reported 84-per cent success rate with no incidence of relapse. It has been pronounced safe for use by even sensitive groups such as children, pregnant and lactating women and geriatric patients.