'Pulp Fiction? Not Quite': How Indian Oranges Are Powering A French Medicine To Treat Varicose Veins

Last Updated:July 12, 2025, 08:00 IST

Indian oranges matched the former Spanish and Mexican counterparts. 2,000 metric tons of small oranges were procured in the financial year 2023-24

This circular, transcontinental journey of a single orange—from a farm in Nagpur to a lab in northern France and back to a pharmacy shelf in Delhi—highlights the globalisation of pharmaceutical supply chains and India’s growing importance as a trusted sourcing and manufacturing hub. (Representational image/News18 Hindi)

In a striking example of global pharmaceutical interdependence, Servier Pharma, the French drugmaker behind the popular vascular medicine Daflon, has shifted a major ingredient of its production to Indian soil—quite literally.

Daflon, widely prescribed for chronic venous diseases such as varicose veins and haemorrhoids, is made from micronised purified flavonoid fraction (MPFF)—a compound derived from citrus fruits, especially oranges. While Servier traditionally sourced its oranges from Spain and Mexico, the company has now turned to the citrus heartlands of Nagpur in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh for its key raw material.

“We are proud that the oranges grown in Indian soil are now an integral part of a medicine used by millions across the world," Aurelien Breton, managing director, Servier India, told News18. “We procure oranges from Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, MP, and Rajasthan currently."

According to IQVIA data, Daflon’s 500mg and 1000mg stand at a value of Rs 61 crore as per moving annual turnover, May 2025, ranking 2nd in the varicose therapy market. The average number of patients treated in a month is 1.2 lakhs.

The citrus supply chain

The Indian-sourced oranges are first processed locally—cleaned, dried, and converted into powder form. This citrus powder is then exported to Servier’s manufacturing headquarters in France, where it undergoes sophisticated processing to extract the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Interestingly, those APIs are then re-imported back to India, where the final formulation of Daflon is completed for domestic distribution.

This circular, transcontinental journey of a single orange—from a farm in Nagpur to a lab in northern France and back to a pharmacy shelf in Delhi—highlights the globalisation of pharmaceutical supply chains and India’s growing importance as a trusted sourcing and manufacturing hub.

The move wasn’t just about logistics or cost-efficiency. According to Breton, Indian oranges matched the quality standards required for flavonoid extraction. “We achieved 100% reliance on local Indian oranges through our Indian supply chain with effect from the financial year 2021."

Indian oranges matched the former Spanish and Mexican counterparts. “2000 metric tons of small oranges were procured in the financial year 2023-24. We work with aggregators and farmers in multiple states in India," said Breton.

Company set to bring precision cancer medicine

Servier Pharma is set to bring precision cancer treatments to India. “Unlike traditional chemotherapy, these therapies act on specific genetic mutations that are responsible for causing the cancer," Breton said.

Out of three novel drugs coming into the Indian market, the first drug, Ivosidenib, targets a mutated protein known as isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1), which is found in a subset of patients with cholangiocarcinoma (a type of biliary tract cancer) and acute myeloid leukemia (a form of blood cancer).

“Epidemiological data show a high prevalence of biliary tract cancers along the Ganga River basin, supporting the need for this targeted option, which can significantly delay disease progression. In clinical trials, Ivosidenib has demonstrated more than a threefold improvement in survival for AML (blood cancer) patients."

The drug was officially launched in India in June 2025.

The second drug, Vorasidenib, has been approved by the US FDA for the treatment of certain types of primary brain tumours. “It also improves patients’ quality of life by reducing seizure frequency and delaying the need for future therapies," Breton said while explaining that the median age at diagnosis of glioma in India is 40 years, an age group that plays a critical role in families, communities, and the workforce. “As novel therapies, both Ivosidenib and Vorasidenib are first-in-class and only-in-class USFDA-approved molecules in their respective therapeutic areas."

Furthermore, Servier’s expanding oncology pipeline is focused on addressing unmet medical needs in aggressive and clinically challenging cancers. These therapies are designed to target the specific genetic mutations that drive each cancer subtype, moving away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach of chemotherapy and truly embodying the promise of precision medicine in oncology."

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