Biocon launches insulin for diabetes patients in Japan

Biopharmaceutical company Biocon Ltd today announced the launch of its bioisimilar product `Insulin Glargin' in Japan, following the receipt of approval from Japan's drug regulator last quarter.

Biocon, Asia's premier biopharmaceuticals company, said its partner Fulifilm Pharma Co Ltd (FFP) launched the product in Japan today.

Insulin Glargine BS Injection Kit, developed and manufactured by Biocon, will be commercialised by FFP in Japan.

''The product is a ready-to-use, prefilled disposable pen with 3 ml of 100IU Insulin Glargine. It will provide a high quality, yet affordable, world-class long-acting biosimilar insulin for patients of diabetes in Japan,'' the company stated.

There were 7.2 million people with diabetes in Japan in 2015, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

The company, through its partner, aims to capture a significant share of the Japanese Glargine market worth $144 million, which is the second largest market outside of North America and Europe and is largely dominated by disposable pens.

Biocon chairperson and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said: ''The launch of our biosimilar Insulin Glargine in Japan by our partner, furthers our mission to provide affordable access to high quality biopharmaceuticals for chronic diseases.

''We believe with Fujifilm Pharma's commercial network, we will enable access to this world-class, prefilled disposable pen for better diabetes management for patients in Japan.''

Biocon is recognised as Asia's largest insulin producer and has been committed to affordable diabetes management through rh-Insulin (Insugen) and Insulin Glargine (Basalog) in India and several emerging markets.

The company currently has marketing approvals in over 60 countries for rh-Insulin and in over 20 countries for Insulin Glargine. It is also developing Insulin Glargine for the developed markets outside of Japan in collaboration with Mylan.