Pfizer enters US$350m insulin agreement with Biocon
First biosimilars agreement in India for Pfizer
Drug manufacturer Pfizer has entered into a US$350m global agreement to market Bangalore, India-based Biocon's biosimilar versions of insulin for diabetes treatment.
Under the agreement, Pfizer will make upfront payments totalling US$200m and additional development and regulatory milestone payments of up to US$150m to Biocon, which will be linked to sales of biosimilar insulin across global markets.
Pfizer will hold exclusive rights to commercialise insulin products such as recombinant human insulin, Glargine, Aspart and Lispro globally, except in certain markets. It will co-market the products with Biocon in Germany, India and Malaysia.
Commenting on the alliance, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director of Biocon, said: ‘This is a significant inflection point in our globalisation path. Pfizer and Biocon bring together a winning combination of marketing, manufacturing and research excellence, which can build a formidable global footprint in diabetes care.
‘Pfizer brings brand strength and an unrivalled marketing network that will enable Biocon to realise its objective of seeing its insulin portfolio have a worldwide presence.’
The 2010 market for diabetes drugs and devices is estimated by the World Health Organisation to be US$40bn, with insulins accounting for US$14bn (35%) of the diabetes segment.
According to Pfizer, by 2015, a number of insulin analogues are expected to lose patent protection, providing significant opportunity for the biosimilars market.
