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Wockhardt, Bayer tie up to market anti-diabetic drug

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, Dec. 14

WOCKHARDT Ltd has announced a co-marketing arrangement with Bayer AG for the anti-diabetic drug, Acarbose.

Mr Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman, Wockhardt and Mr Dieter Kambeck, Chairman and Managing Director, Bayer group companies, India, signed the co-marketing agreement in Mumbai today.

Acarbose is being marketed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals in India under the brand name Glucobay.

Under the new arrangement, Wockhardt will market the product under the brand name, Ascrose, whereas Bayer will continue to market its existing brand.

Mr Khorakiwala said Wockhardt would market Ascrose through its division dedicated to anti-diabetes drugs. The division had a field force of 400, while the total marketing field force is about 1,200.

Bayer AG has a total marketing field force of about 235.

Glucobay is a pseudo-tetrasaccharide derived from the fermentation process of the fungus Actinoplanes utahensis. It inhibits intestinal alpha glucosidases, resulting in lowering of blood sugar levels post-meals.

The global turnover of Acarbose is around $300 million. Bayer launched Glucobay in India in November 1997. According to ORG, Glucobay is a Rs 133-crore product growing at a compounded annual rate of 115 per cent in the last three years.

The oral anti-diabetic market in India was about Rs 250 crore growing at over 36 per cent, Mr Khorakiwala said.

Glucobay has a market share of six per cent in the oral anti-diabetes market. With this tie-up, the combined market share of Bayer's Glucobay and Wockhardt's Ascrose is expected to go up to 10 per cent in the oral anti-diabetic market.