Mankind Pharma Ltd.

Mumbai: In a first-of-its-kind pricing strategy in the pharmaceutical industry, Swiss drug major Novartis has introduced a financing scheme for its cholesterol lowering drug brand Sybrava (inclisiran) in India, as the company looks to expand the adoption of the new generation heart drug that has so far been restricted due to its high pricing. Novartis has tied up with Indian payment technology company Pine Labs to offer a monthly instalment scheme for the twice-a-year treatment of the injectable drug used to reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), commonly called bad cholesterol. "We have recently launched a zero-interest EMI scheme with Pine Labs so that this treatment can be accessible to more patients," Amitabh Dube, country president & MD, Novartis India, said in an exclusive interview with ET. Each instalment is priced at Rs 15,000-16,000. "The first is a loading dose and the second dose is after 90 days, and then after 180 days. It will be a rolling cycle," said Dube. As per cardiologists, Novartis has come up with a one-on-one scheme where the second injection will be free on purchase of the first dose. However, a patient has to pay full value of the first dosage through equated monthly instalment. The drug was priced at Rs 1.2 lakh per injection when it was launched in January 2024. In the US, sold under brand Leqvio, it is priced at $3,373.4 per dose (about Rs 2.9 lakh). More than 3,000 patients have currently been put on the drug in India. To expand the reach for inclisiran, Novartis has also entered into marketing tie-ups with Mankind Pharma , JB Pharma and Lupin . Mankind, which sells inclisiran under brand Crenzlo, is also evaluating possibilities in terms of patient assistance programmes that can make the drug more affordable to the eligible patients in India, said Atish Majumdar, senior president-sales and marketing. Lupin has launched the drug under Tilpazan, while JB Pharma's brand is Izirize. Lupin and JB Pharma did not respond to ET's query until press time on Monday. In the one year since April 2024, inclisiran recorded sales of Rs 7.7 crore among all three partners, according to data from PharmaTrac. Inclisiran is not a replacement for statins, the most commonly used class of medications to lower cholesterol, but can be recommended as a line of treatment when statins do not work or if a person is statin intolerant. However, top cardiologists are divided over the widespread prescribing of the drug. Some opine it is another addition to their armament of treatment. "It is a very important drug that has come into the market. It has the potential to be a very big game changer for blockages," said Dr Nihar Mehta, associate director, Department of Structural Heart Diseases, Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre. However, others said its usage will be for a limited number of patients. Dr Ganesh Kumar AV, director of cardiology at LH Hiranandani Hospital Powai in Mumbai, said: "The medicine is good but it is being overused. With the right usage there are not many patients who need it. My usage of inclisiran has not been much over the last one year; maybe less than 10 out of the about 2,000 patients with coronary artery diseases I treated". By Rica Bhattacharyya & Vikas Dandekar ,

New Delhi: Leading Indian drugmakers such as Eris Lifesciences , Lupin , Mankind and Wockhardt are making strong inroads into the country's insulin market-long dominated by multinationals such as Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and Eli Lilly. A combination of investments in affordable insulin , deeper market penetration, and a sharp rise in type 1 diabetes cases has helped domestic companies gain a foothold in this segment, according to industry insiders. Indian companies accounted for ₹1,089 crore, or about 25 per cent, of India's ₹4,404-crore insulin market in the 12 months ended April, as per data from market researcher PharmaTrac. Domestic players grew 13 per cent year on year, driven by their own products and strategic partnerships-double the growth rate of multinational competitors. "Indian pharma companies have invested in biologics and biosimilars, giving them the technical capability to produce insulin at scale," said Rajeev Juneja, managing director and vice chairman of Mankind Pharma . "India's cost-effective manufacturing infrastructure enables it to produce insulin more affordably than many Western competitors, making it more accessible to patients." With global companies such as Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly steadily shifting their focus from insulin to glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications, there is significant scope for domestic players, experts said. "MNCs who dominate the insulin market are gradually shifting focus to the anti-obesity market, thus creating space for Indian companies to slowly gain ground in the insulins segment," said Sheetal Sapale, VP, commercial, at PharmaTrac. "Partnerships with MNCs as well as Indian biologics companies give an upper hand to the Indian players," she added. Novo Nordisk, the maker of semaglutide blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy, recently said it is planning to retire a range of its human premix insulin brand Mixtard available in easy-to-use disposable pen and cartridge forms by the end of this year. Eli Lilly has given its insulin marketing rights to Cipla and is focusing on anti-obesity. Last year, Lupin acquired the Huminsulin brand from Eli Lilly to boost its anti-diabetes drugs portfolio. "Since some of these insulins have been withdrawn by MNCs, Indian companies are now beginning to get the bigger share of the market," said V Mohan, chairman of Dr Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre, Chennai. The annual incidence of type 1 diabetes in India is estimated to be 4.9 cases per 100,000 population, particularly among children below 20 years of age. This translates to about 860,423 individuals with type 1 diabetes. "Insulin forms the backbone of diabetes treatment. The increasing cases of Type 1 diabetes and even long-term Type 2 diabetes is creating a huge market opportunity for Indian companies that can give good quality insulin at an affordable price," said Aasim Maldar, consultant - endocrinologist and diabetologist at Mumbai's PD Hinduja Hospital. Insulin is also administered by hospitals during pregnancy, operations, etc, when there could be a sudden spike in sugar levels. "Many Indian companies had a diabetic portfolio for a long time, if not insulin. So, it will not be difficult for them to strengthen their presence," Maldar said. By Rica Bhattacharyya & Teena Thacker ,

New Delhi: As domestic brands in India began introducing their generic versions of key anti-diabetic medicine empagliflozin following the expiry of its patent, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), has fixed the retail prices of the drug combinations and different dosage strengths. Issuing a gazette notification, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and the country’s drug price regulator announced that “based on the decision of 132nd Authority meeting dated 29.4.2025 the authority has fixed retail prices of 84 formulations under Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013.” The price list attached with the official notification includes around 36 variants of empagliflozin, linagliptin and metformin hydrochloride Fixed-Dose Combinations (FDC) of various brands and manufacturers. Empagliflozin, indicated for Type-2 diabetes, inhibits the release of SGLT2 protein in the kidneys which reduces glucose reabsorption in blood and helps in lowering the blood sugar level of patients. Under the notified list the combination of empagliflozin 12.5mg and metformin hydrochloride 1000mg tablet of Corona Remedies is priced at ₹19.64, while a combination including linagliptin along with these active ingredients of Lupin is priced at ₹22.32. The notified retail prices excludes the applicable Goods and Services Tax (GST) and are applicable to the respective manufacturer and marketer specified in the list. As per a market research firm Pharmarack as of April 2025 the total market of empagliflozin and its related combination is valued around ₹745 crore. Of this, plain empagliflozin and its combination with linagliptin accounts for nearly 86 per cent of the total market. In FY25 empagliflozin plain tablets reported a Moving Annual Turnover of ₹337 crore, reflecting a market share of 45 per cent while its combination version with linagliptin had a MAT value of ₹308 crore and a market share of 41 per cent. Besides this the drug's other combinations such as empagliflozin and metformin reported an annual turnover of ₹102 crore with a 14 per cent market share. The retail price fixation exercise has been undertaken in the aftermath of the expiry of empagliflozin’s patent in March this year followed by a series of generic entrants in the market. In India, the drug patent was owned by Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim and the drug was marketed under the brand name Jardiance. After the drug went off patent, companies like Alkem and Glenmark launched their generic versions under the brand names ‘Empanorm’ and ‘Glempa’ respectively. Besides them other major generic players like Mankind and USV also joined the fray. For patients, the development gave a major price relief as the generic versions are stated to cost around 80-90 per cent less than the patented version. As per the NPPA price list the innovator's version single tablet is priced at ₹53, whereas the other brands from the license holders Torrent, Cipla and Lupin are priced between ₹46-48 per tablet. While announcing the launch, Rajeev Juneja, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mankind Pharma said that, “the company will market its respective brand at ₹5.49 per tablet for the 10 mg variant and ₹9.90 per tablet for the 25 mg variant. The latest monthly progress report of Indian pharma market by Pharmarack suggests that as of April close to 147 brands from 37 companies have forayed in the empagliflozin plain and combinations market, reflecting a two-fold jump from the previous month status of 86 brands and 19 Companies. Under the provisions of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, the retail price of a new drug is fixed by NPPA and the applicant manufacturer and marketer, are required to sell the new drug within the notified price. By Abhijeet Singh ,