Key diabetes drug price crashes by up to 90% as generics enter market

Mankind, Alkem, Glenmark launch generic versions of empagliflozin

Prices of key anti-diabetic drug empagliflozin crashed by as much as 90 per cent to ₹5.5 per tablet as several pharma companies launched generic versions of this Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) drug, which went off patent earlier this month. The move will make the drug more accessible to India’s diabetic patients, and eventually grow the market by five-six-fold in volumes, industry insiders felt. The innovator drug named Jardiance by BI costs around ₹60 per tablet.

 

Delhi-based Mankind Pharma launched a range of empagliflozin products, including its combinations, priced between ₹5.5 and ₹13.5 per tablet. On the same day, Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals launched the drug priced between ₹11 and ₹15 per tablet. Alkem Laboratories announced the launch of their generic version of the drug priced around 80 per cent lower than the innovator brand.

 

India is home to more than 100 million diabetics, and the demand for anti-diabetic drugs is on the rise — the ₹20,611 crore anti-diabetic drug market in India is growing at 9 per cent or so. According to market research firm Pharmarack, the empagliflozin market size is around ₹758 crore, and has a five-year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 3 per cent. This is because another drug in the same class (SGLT-2 inhibitor), dapagliflozin, went off patent around 2020 and became affordable after generics were launched.

 

Sheetal Sapale, vice-president, commercial, Pharmarack, said prices usually crash to one-third or one-fifth of the innovator molecule, but in case of empagliflozin, it’s one-tenth. “Volumes will pick up significantly as a result. The cost per tablet (innovator brand) ranges from ₹60-70 for plain empagliflozin and from ₹70-86 for combinations. Among top players, Mankind Pharma, Torrent Pharma, Alkem, and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories are launching their generic versions,” she informed.

 

In recent years, key drugs like vildagliptin, linagliptin, sitagliptin, dapagliflozin went off patent and prices crashed to one-third of innovator brand pricing.

 

Rajeev Juneja, managing director (MD), Mankind Pharma, said that after the generics are launched, even general physicians will start prescribing empagliflozin, thereby increasing the volumes and access to patients. Juneja expected volume growth could be 50-100 per cent after patent expiry, while the value will drop this year, thanks to the price crash. “In two-three years, the value of the drug will surpass the current market size,” he said.

 

Mankind will be making the drug in its own plant and will also make the bulk drug in-house. “We are using a drug master file (DMF), or export grade API (active pharmaceutical ingredient), in our products. So, the patients will get the same quality as the innovator drug at a lower price. In chronic drugs, even a minuscule impurity can cause damage in the long run to the patient, and hence we strategically decided to use DMF grade (USFDA grade) APIs,” Juneja told reporters.

 

Pharma companies are betting on this drug’s additional benefits apart from managing diabetes.

 

Vikas Gupta, chief executive officer (CEO), Alkem, said: “This globally accepted molecule has transformed diabetes care with its additional benefits in managing chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular health.”

 

In addition to cardiovascular benefits, studies have highlighted the effectiveness of empagliflozin and its combinations. A 24-week study found that a twice daily combination of empagliflozin (12.5 mg) and metformin (500/1000 mg) helped people with Type-2 diabetes lower their blood sugar levels (HbA1c by 1.9 per cent to 2.1 per cent), lose weight (3-3.8 kg), and reduce fasting blood sugar (by 43.2-50.4 mg/dL).

 

Alok Malik, president and head of India formulations business, Glenmark, said that this drug would help healthcare professionals and patients manage Type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease more effectively.