Drugmaker Lupin will sell Boehringer Ingelheim’s diabetes medicine linagliptin under a separate brand name in India.
Announcing the co-marketing alliance, the two companies said that Lupin’s 400-strong diabetes-focussed field force would market the drug under the brand names Ondero (monotherapy) and Ondero Met (fixed-dose combination with metformin).
Boehringer Ingelheim will continue to sell its linagliptin under the brand names Trajenta (monotherapy) and TrajentaDuo (fixed-dose combination with metformin) through its existing sales force and network, the statement said.
The Indian diabetes market is valued at Rs 7,655 crore, growing at about 20 per cent. And the total DPP-4 Inhibitors market (that the above drugs are part of) is valued at Rs 1,499 crore and growing at over 26 per cent, the note said.
With a presence in oral diabetes medicines and insulin, Lupin’s anti-diabetic portfolio contributes 15 per cent to Lupin’s India revenues from finished drugs.
Lupin has two existing alliances for insulin with Eli Lilly and LG Life Sciences. Incidentally, Boehringer also had an alliance in the segment with Lilly in India.