Lupin and Boehringer to co-market anti-diabetes drug in India

MUMBAI: Domestic pharma company Lupin and MNC firm Boehringer Ingelheim announced a joint strategic alliance for co-marketing an anti-diabetic drug, linagliptin, a novel dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor in India. According to the agreement, Lupin will market and sell linagliptin under a separate brand name Ondero (monotherapy) and Ondero Met (fixed-dose combination with metformin) which will be promoted by Lupin’s 400 strong dedicated diabetes specialty field force.
Boehringer Ingelheim will continue to sell its linagliptin under the brand names Trajenta (monotherapy) and TrajentaDuo (fixed-dose combination with metformin) through their existing sales force and network.
Boehringer Ingelheim has a strong presence in the DPP-4 Inhibitors market in India which is growing at 27% (IMS MAT August 2015).
The Indian diabetes market is valued at Rs 7,655 crore, growing at 19.57% (IMS MAT August 2015). The total DPP-4 Inhibitors market is valued at Rs 1,499 crore and growing at 26.55%.
Lupin is amongst the fastest growing players in the oral anti-diabetes drugs (OAD) market as also in the insulin segment. Lupin’s anti-diabetic portfolio contributes 15% to its India formulations sales, and it has 6.44% (IMS) market share of the overall diabetes market.