Biocon finally gets a partner in Mylan to expand its insulin portfolio

Mylan will have the rights to develop and market Glargine, Lispro and Aspart

Biocon, a publicly held biotechnology company,  has entered into a definitive agreement with Mylan for an exclusive strategic collaboration for the global development and commercialisation of generic versions of its three insulin analog products.

Under the terms of this collaboration, Mylan will have the rights to develop and market Biocon’s Glargine (the generic version of Sanofi’s Lantus), Lispro (the generic version of Eli Lilly’s Humalog) and Aspart (the generic version of Novo Nordisk’s NovoLog).

According to public filings, reported worldwide net sales of Lantus, Humalog and NovoLog for 2012 were approximately $11.5 billion.

This move to partner with Mylan comes almost an year after Biocon called off a short-lived $350 million pact with Pfizer to sell insulin products in developed markets.

Mylan and Biocon will share development, capital and certain other costs to bring the products to market. Mylan will have exclusive commercialization rights in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and the European Free Trade Association countries through a profit share arrangement with Biocon. Mylan will have co-exclusive commercialization rights with Biocon in certain other markets around the world.

Biocon’s Chairman & Managing Director, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, “Mylan is a natural preferred partner for our portfolio of generic Insulin analogs and this collaboration further strengthens our existing successful partnership."

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch commented, “This collaboration builds off of our existing successful partnership for generic biologics with Biocon and brings Mylan a portfolio of  insulin analog products."

Mylan President Rajiv Malik added, “Biocon has served as a trusted development partner for the past three years and we are very excited about this expanded relationship."