Leading diabetes care pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk in partnership with Torrent Pharma today inaugurated an enhanced facility in Gujarat and looking at launching more new products in India.
Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk and Torrent announced commissioning of the expanded insulin manufacturing plant, which currently gives access of diabetes medicines to about three million people in the country. Dubbed as the diabetes capital of the world, India - according to the International Diabetes Federation 8th Atlas - is home to 72.9 million people with diabetes. The number is expected to go up to 134.3 million by 2045.
The newly expanded facility was inaugurated by Peter Taksoe-Jensen, Ambassador to India, Embassy of Denmark in presence of Frederik Kier, Senior Vice-President, Region AAMEO, Novo Nordisk.
Currently, the Indrad facility in Gujarat is able to meet about 70-75 per cent of Novo's domestic requirement of insulin for the Indian market. After the expansion, the company will be in a position to increase its reach to the diabetic patients.
Melvin D’souza, Managing Director, Novo Nordisk India, said, "The growth of diabetes in India is alarming and people with diabetes have a right to access affordable, quality medication. Through this partnership, we will continue to ensure the provision of cost-effective, yet high-quality medication with increased manufacturing capacity."
Torrent has invested ₹60 crore so far for the plant, which has the existing capacity of about 26 million vials. "There will be an increase of 30-35 per cent in the capacity of the plant post expansion. The entire facility is dedicated for Novo Nordisk," said Jinesh Shah, Executive Director, Torrent Pharmaceuticals.
On price control regime in India, D'souza mentioned that, “Though, our human insulin product prices have remained under price control for years. And the human insulin vials product price has dropped by about 35-40 per cent over the past 15 years, still we continue to have high level of attention for insulin."