A new breast cancer medicine is set to reach Indian patients this month. AstraZeneca Pharma India has said it will launch Datverzo, known generically as datopotamab deruxtecan, in India in November 2026, giving doctors another targeted option for women with advanced breast cancer who have already been through hormone therapy and chemotherapy.
The company told the BSE and the National Stock Exchange in a filing on 7 November that the commercial launch will take place this month. The filing, signed by Company Secretary Tanya Sanish, follows import and market permission from the Drugs Controller General of India, which the company received in December 2025.
Datverzo is an antibody-drug conjugate, a class of targeted cancer therapy drawing growing attention in Indian oncology. The launch adds to AstraZeneca’s cancer portfolio in a market where breast cancer is among the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.
What is Datverzo?
Datverzo is the brand name for datopotamab deruxtecan, a TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate. In simple terms, it is a medicine designed to find cancer cells and deliver a dose of chemotherapy directly to them.
The drug works in two parts. An antibody seeks out a protein called TROP2, which is found in high amounts on many breast cancer cells, and a cytotoxic payload attached to that antibody is released once the drug reaches the tumour. The idea is to hit the cancer harder while sparing healthy tissue more than standard chemotherapy does. The medicine is given as an infusion, in a 100 mg format.
Who is it for?
Datverzo is approved for a specific group of patients: adults with unresectable or metastatic hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. That means cancer that cannot be removed by surgery, or has spread to other parts of the body, and is driven by hormones but does not carry the HER2 protein in the usual way.
The approval covers patients with HER2 scores of IHC 0, IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ISH-, a detail that matters because it widens the group of patients who can be considered for the drug beyond those with the most clearly HER2-positive tumours. Patients must also have already received endocrine-based therapy and chemotherapy for their advanced disease before Datverzo is used.
For these patients, options narrow once hormone therapy and standard chemotherapy have stopped working. A targeted medicine that works differently from both is therefore a meaningful addition, even if it is not a treatment for every type of breast cancer.
The road to launch
The regulatory path was cleared well before this month’s announcement. AstraZeneca Pharma India received import and market permission in Form CT-20 from the Drugs Controller General of India on 17 December 2025, and told the stock exchanges about it the same day. That makes the gap between permission and launch nearly eleven months, and the company has not said publicly why the launch took this long.
AstraZeneca Pharma India, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca PLC headquartered in Bengaluru, has not disclosed a date within November for the launch, nor details of distribution. The filing also contains no pricing, expected sales or market-share guidance.
Why it matters
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among Indian women, and a large share of cases are hormone receptor-positive and HER2-negative, the exact group Datverzo is approved for. When the disease reaches the advanced stage, treatment becomes a sequence of therapies, each tried until it stops working, and every new option in that sequence counts.
The launch also signals something wider. Targeted therapies such as antibody-drug conjugates were once slow to reach India, often arriving years after their debut abroad. Datverzo’s arrival shows that gap narrowing, and more such medicines are expected to follow the same route.
What is still unknown
For patients and families, the biggest unanswered question is the price. The company has said nothing about what Datverzo will cost in India, and targeted cancer medicines of this class are typically expensive. Whether hospitals and insurers cover it, and whether patient support programmes will be offered, will only become clear once the launch details are out.
Availability is another open question. The filing names no launch date within November and no distribution details, so patients should check with their treating oncologist rather than assume the medicine is already at their hospital.
FAQs
What is Datverzo?
Datverzo is datopotamab deruxtecan, a TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate used to treat advanced breast cancer. It delivers chemotherapy to tumour cells carrying the TROP2 protein.
When will Datverzo launch in India?
AstraZeneca Pharma India said on 7 November 2026 that the launch will take place in November 2026. No exact date within the month has been announced.
Who can receive Datverzo?
Adults with unresectable or metastatic hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, with HER2 scores of IHC 0, IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ISH-, who have already had endocrine-based therapy and chemotherapy.
How much will Datverzo cost in India?
The company has not announced pricing. The exchange filing contains no pricing or sales guidance.
Was Datverzo already approved in India?
Yes. The Drugs Controller General of India granted import and market permission in Form CT-20 on 17 December 2025. The November 2026 announcement is about the commercial launch, not a new approval.
For women living with advanced breast cancer, a new medicine is never just a company announcement. Datverzo’s arrival this month gives oncologists one more option to consider.
