Lupin to sell LG Life's diabetes insulin in India, signs 5-year deal

Lupin to sell LG Life's diabetes insulin in India, signs 5-year deal

Pharma major Lupin on Wednesday said it has entered into a strategic distribution agreement with South Korea-based LG Life Sciences to launch insulin analogue Glargine in India.

As per the agreement, Lupin would be responsible for marketing and sales of Glargine, under the brand name Basugine, in India.

Shakti Chakraborty, group president, India region formulations, Lupin, said, "I

believe that our entry into the insulin analogue market with launch of Basugine is a step in the right direction. Lupin's foray in this segment will help us further strengthen our diabetes portfolio enabling us to grow deeper into the diabetes segment and will fuel our growth in the years to come."

The overall diabetes market size within the Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) stood at Rs 6,032 crore, growing at 18% (IMS MAT April 2014). The total insulin analogue market size is valued at Rs 585 crore with 3 year CAGR of 24%. The oral anti-diabetes drugs (OAD) market is valued at Rs 4,512.8 crore with a growth of 19.74% (MAT April 2014).

Lupin is ranked seventh in the diabetic market with a market share of 4.21% valued at Rs 189.98 crore, growing at 21.83% (MAT April 2014).

"This is a five year agreement which is renewable. We have just launched this product this month. We see a lot of opportunity for us in this analogue space," Chakraborty told dna. The agreement has been worked out on a transfer price, that is, Lupin would buy the product from LG Life Sciences, a subsidiary company of LG, and would then sell it at at a decided price.

The total Glargine molecule market size is Rs 218.5 crore with a 3 year CAGR of 23%, currently controlled by Sanofi Aventis, Biocon and Wockhardt. Lupin is ranked second in the conventional insulin market and grew more than the industry at 10.82% in April 2014 (IMSD MAT), while the market grew at 8%.

The primary activity of insulin, including Insulin Glargine, is the regulation of glucose metabolism.

On developing its own products in the analogue space, Chakraborty further said that it will depend upon how this products fairs in the market. "There are companies who wanted to tie up with us to manufacture and develop products but it is difficult to say anything on this at this juncture. India is a diabetes capital and the usage of such products are high. So about having our own product will depend on how things shape up."

In another development, Sanofi also announced that it has entered into a marketing and distribution agreement with Emcure Pharmaceuticals (Emcure) for its oncology portfolio in India.

As per the agreement, while Sanofi will continue to own its oncology range - comprising four brands namely Taxotere, Jevtana, Fludara and Fasturtec, Emcure will market and distribute these brands through its specialty unit.

Shailesh Ayyangar, vice president - South Asia and managing director - Sanofi India and Sanofi – Synthelabo (India), said in a release, "Realising that managing the complexities of cancer necessitates the availability of a wide range of products and supporting therapies, we found that combining our efforts and product range with that of Emcure Oncology, makes immense sense for both companies."

Sanofi will continue to provide strong scientific and medical support to Emcure's already well-established and fast growing oncology business.