Bio-pharmaceutical company Biocon has signed a deal with Mexico-based drug company PiSA Farmaceutica, to develop an insulin drug for the U.S. market, CNBC TV 18 reported.
The India-based drug major is looking to enter the $2-billion insulin market in the U.S. by developing an affordable recombinant human (rh) insulin.
"We are trying to cash in on the $2 billion insulin market opportunity in U.S which accounts for 40 percent of global insulin market. The global insulin market currently is worth $5 billion. The deal comes at an attractive price point for us, [sic]" Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman and managing director of Biocon, told CNBC TV18.
Biocon — Asia's largest insulin-maker — had signed a deal with PiSA in 2006 to supply the affordable insulin Glargine in Mexico. The combined market for Glargine in Mexico is estimated to be over $40 million, according to the BusinessWorld.
Biocon has rh insulin marketing approvals in 60 countries.
Shaw said the new deal with PiSA would give Biocon access to the best insulin supply chain in the U.S. market because of PiSA's proximity to the U.S. and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) membership.
She said the Biocon-PiSA partnership for developing insulin drugs in the U.S. is based on the same model as Mexico under which Biocon provides the drug substance and PiSA manufactures the product.
She further said the product has been developed but the company is in the process of getting approvals for it from regulatory bodies in the U.S. and India.
"We are going through the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines and it will take us at least two years to complete the process. We can expect the product to hit the markets only after that," Shaw said.
She also said the company is focused on expanding its presence in the global insulin market. "Insulin market worldwide is a good investment opportunity because there are very few insulin manufacturers, [sic]" she said.
According to global market research firm P&S, the global human insulin market was valued at $23.98 billion in 2014. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.5 percent during the period 2015 to 2020, to reach $48.49 billion in 2020.
[1 lakh = 100,000|1 crore = 10 million|100 crore = 1 billion]
