Mumbai: Indian drugmaker Biocon Ltd. is aiming to become the world’s top supplier of insulin in the coming years, co-founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, by capturing growing demand for the critical diabetes drug while Big Pharma shifts its focus to GLP-1.
“In five years, we could be the number one insulin company in the world,” the 73-year-old pharma billionaire and executive chairperson said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Latitude with Haslinda Amin. “We are one of the few companies globally that has the scale to address that opportunity.”
Biocon makes generic drugs and biosimilars, which are biological medicines that are highly similar to brand-name drugs and typically sold for lower prices. The Bengaluru-based company is currently the third-largest insulin supplier by volume globally, and has invested “big time” in ramping up production capacity, Mazumdar-Shaw said.
Biocon’s latest ambitions outline the shifting dynamics of the $30 billion global insulin market, as the biggest players are increasingly redirecting resources toward next-generation metabolic medicines such as the glucagon-like peptides, or GLP-1s. Pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co., whose growth was powered by insulin sales for decades, are now doubling down on other diabetes and weight-loss drugs that generate higher growth and profits.
More than 830 million people around the world live with diabetes, and millions depend on insulin therapy to manage the disease. Demand is expected to rise as diabetes prevalence increases across emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where access to affordable drugs remains uneven. Advocates worry that patients who depend on older insulin therapies are being left behind in the industry’s race to dominate next-gen markets.
The current situation is a “windfall for me because I’m able to now fill in that gap and my insulin business has just taken off,” she said, adding that the firm is looking to add capacity by building partnerships across the world, including companies that have pen and cartridge facilities.
Mazumdar-Shaw set up Biocon in 1978 as an industrial enzymes producer in a joint venture with an Irish company. Today, the Indian giant has a market cap of more than $7 billion. Mazumdar-Shaw has a net worth of $2.3 billion from her stakes in Biocon, Syngene International Ltd. and Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd., according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
‘Crowded Market’
Biocon’s strategy diverges from many pharma peers in India and internationally that are racing to enter the obesity and diabetes drug market. The patent for semaglutide, the key ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic, has started to expire globally including in countries like India and Canada, allowing cheaper versions to start flooding those markets.
“We have to be a bit aware that generic GLP-1s is a crowded market,” Mazumdar-Shaw said. “I think being a generics player, we are quite realistic about the fact that there’s a lot of global competition.”
Dozens of drugmakers in India have so far started selling the drugs domestically, while a handful have gotten approval to start selling in Canada.
Prices for these drugs are hitting “rock bottom” in India, Mazumdar-Shaw said, adding that Biocon does not plan on selling its generic versions for semaglutide in the South Asian country. It is taking a measured approach on GLP-1s, choosing to target only select markets, and Biocon sees some opportunity for the category in Canada, as well as Latin America, Brazil, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
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