Usv Plans Rs 100 Crore Unit For Natural Insulin

USV Ltd, the Mumbai-based Rs 340 crore pharmaceuticals company which has a presence in diabetes and cardiovascular segments, is now focusing on the insulin market. It is planning to set up a Rs 100 crore unit to manufacture natural insulin crystals.

USV, which recently launched natural insulin products in the country, holds about 7 per cent share in a market dominated by MNC major Novo Nordisk. The company is currently importing insulin crystals from Akzo Nobel, a Dutch company, which is subsequently diluted and filled in vials.

Insulin extracted from cow and pigs' pancreas gland is called natural insulin, while human insulin is synthetic. One vial of human insulin in India costs about Rs 220, almost double the price of animal insulin. USV has priced its bovine insulin at Rs 65 a vial and Rs porcine insulin at Rs 125 a vial.

"Since we have decided to take on multinationals with our cost-effective natural insulin products, we are considering the proposal to produce insulin crystals on our own. A decision will be taken in a month," J L N Sarma, national sales manager, said here today.

The company has also kicked off an awareness drive to counter the claims of multinationals that synthetic insulin is better than natural insulin. The company has engaged Teuscher, a professor of medicine at the university of Bern, Switzerland, who is suggesting a recourse to natural insulin to prevent a sudden and dangerous drop in blood sugar levels, a risk factor in diabetes treatment.

"Three multinationals, which control 94 per cent of insulin market worldwide, are making false assertion that synthetic insulin is better than natural insulin and are removing natural insulin from their markets," Teuscher alleged. "Diabetics in a developing country such as India with around 23 million diabetics, of which 60 per cent belong to the lower-income group, are thus forced to buy synthetic insulin at an exorbitant price," he said.