Biotech major Biocon Limited today entered the Rs 300 crore nephrology formulation segment with the launch of four immunosuppressants for renal therapy. Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy launched the products in Bangalore.
The products are Renodapt (mycophenolate mofetil), Tactograf (ttacrolimus), Cyclophil ME (cyclosporine micro emulsion USP), Rapacan (sirolimus) and Erypro (rHuEPO). The launch coincided with the World Kidney Day celebrations observed annually on March 8.
In its efforts to provide affordable and quality drugs, the company added a third division to handle its nephrology portfolio headed by Raghava Vempati.
All the four drugs will initially target the domestic market. The company has made arrangements to enter the GCC countries BRIC nations and South East Asian markets. It will take a while to grab opportunities in the regulated markets.
"Biocon is already the largest manufacturer of immunosuppressants in India and is poised to be a high quality player in the nephrology market with the most balanced portfolio of brands", stated Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director of the company.
The company's drugs were a part of a global clinical trial where its drug Erthropoetin (EPO) was the 16th study. The company also conducted multi-centric trials in the country at various centres according to GCP/ICH guidelines to demonstrate that it has a good safety and efficacy profile.
Biocon has been an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) supplier of immunosuppressants to several customers in the world. The company has all the inputs in terms of focus to progressive research in innovative therapies and its Biopharmaceutical unit in the Biocon Park in Bommasandra has dedicated proprietary process technologies to deliver higher purity drugs from its cGMP plant for the production of immunosuppressants. Out of the company's 300 patents, many pertain to immunosuppressants.
Out of the Rs 300 crore nephrology drug market which has a combination of multinational companies like Roche and Novartis apart from domestic majors like Panacea Biotech and Wockhardt, the immunosuppressants market is valued at Rs 125 crore and expected to touch Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore within the next five years, stated Rakesh Bamzai, president, marketing, Biocon Limited.
The prices of the four drugs will be 35 to 40 per cent cheaper than the MNC brands, informed Bamzai, adding that the company is working out strategies to be able to grab a 25 per cent market share within the next five years in the segment.
"Immunosuppressants are powerful drugs that inhibit or prevent the activity of the immune system. We are committed to find solutions to kidney disorders using the highest standards of bio-therapeutics and will simultaneously strive towards reducing the risks of the silent and dreaded disease in the future," stated Dr. Shaw.