Biocon seeks to be the top global insulin player as rivals turn to GLP-1

Company plans to leverage capacity gaps and pricing dynamics in insulin as global pharma majors shift focus to GLP-1 therapies amid rising diabetes burden

Biocon seeks to be “the” insulin company of the world as larger rivals shift towards newer diabetes therapies such as GLP-1 drugs, said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the chairperson of the Indian pharmaceutical firm.

 

“The big insulin companies do not want to make insulin in cartridges or pens anymore. They are switching to selling insulin in vials, as they wish to focus on the GLP-1 opportunity,” she said, adding that while the therapy is promising, it has limitations.

 

Type-1 diabetics and even late-stage Type-2 patients cannot rely on these drugs, and insulin is indispensable, therefore. Biocon is among the few global companies with capabilities in insulin and GLP-1 therapies. It has a significant presence in the US insulin market and plans to expand across 80 markets where it has approvals, she said during a media interaction in Bengaluru.

 

 

Biocon focuses on “value maximisation” — a strategy in which capital allocation is guided by relative margins between insulin and GLP-1 therapies, as off-patent GLP-1 drugs are competitively priced in emerging markets. “We will have to look at pricing and see if insulins have better margins than GLP-1s, and then we will focus more on insulin manufacturing,” she said.

 

Shreehas Tambe, the new managing director and chief executive of Biocon, said the company aspires to be a global giant in India and focus on innovation that makes life-saving drugs more affordable.

 

Over 60 per cent of diseases are now non-communicable, Tambe said, noting that global diabetes cases are projected to grow by 45 per cent over the next decade to reach 850 million. “Health care spends are going to be in three major areas – oncology, immunology and diabetes. We are already focusing on these areas.”

 

Biocon reported biosimilars revenue of Rs 7,676 crore for the first nine months of FY26, with insulin forming a key but undisclosed part of the segment. The global insulin market was estimated to be worth $29-31 billion in 2025, with India accounting for about $650-700 million and underscoring the scale of the opportunity in the country.

 

This positioning follows a recalibration by global pharmaceutical majors. Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Sanofi are increasingly prioritising high-margin, high-performance GLP-1 and incretin-based therapies over insulin. Investor disclosures confirm this shift: Novo Nordisk’s February 2025 earnings call highlighted GLP-1 as its primary driver for capacity expansion, while Sanofi has labeled its diabetes business “mature” as it pivots toward specialty care.

 

A key factor behind this shift is manufacturing prioritisation. Injectable therapies such as insulin and GLP-1 rely on shared infrastructure, particularly pen devices and sterile fill-finish lines, which remain capacity-constrained. Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, in earnings calls in 2024 and early 2025, acknowledged bottlenecks in these areas, leading to capacity being preferentially allocated to higher-margin GLP-1 products. This effectively limits incremental investment in insulin pens and cartridges, even without formal production cuts.

 

Biocon seeks to fill this gap. According to a February 2026 update from Axis Securities, the company's “steady” insulin business will double drug product capacity at its Malaysia facility by FY27, with drug substance expansion following in FY28–29. Motilal Oswal added that Biocon is scaling its Insulin Aspart business through hospital networks to drive market penetration.

 

Alongside, Biocon is building its GLP-1 pipeline. Liraglutide launches in Europe have supported generics growth, with further expansion planned in the US and Latin America, while semaglutide filings are underway in multiple international markets.

 

With the integration of the Viatris biosimilars business largely complete and the balance sheet stabilising, Tambe is shifting Biocon toward an execution-driven phase. Having established global scale and manufacturing capacity, the company is now prioritising commercialisation, margin improvement and cash flow. Biocon will focus on scaling launches, improving product mix, and extracting value from its established platform.