Lupin in marketing alliance with Forest for asthma product

Mumbai: Lupin Ltd has entered into a multi-year promotion and marketing agreement for the `AeroChamber Plus' line of products with US firm Forest Laboratories Inc.

Under the agreement, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc US will use its 50-strong sales force to promote the product to pediatricians.

AeroChamber Plus is a valved holding chamber (VHC) device that is used with metered dose inhalers to improve the delivery of medication to the lungs in the treatment of asthma and COPD.

Aerochamber Plus, the most widely prescribed holding chamber in the United States, also reduces the deposition of medication in the mouth and throat and makes metered dose inhalers easier for patients to use by reducing the need to coordinate actuation of the inhaler with inhalation.

''We are happy to strike this alliance with Forest. While the AeroChamber Plus brand has a strong position in the valved holding chamber market, we believe that this marketing alliance presents a significant opportunity for further growth of the franchise for Forest, resulting in value for both companies,'' said Dr Kamal Sharma, managing director, Lupin Ltd.

The alliance will also extend Lupin's presence in the respiratory segment in the pediatric market in the US and help strengthen its franchise with pediatricians.

Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc, head-quartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is the wholly owned subsidiary of Mumbai-based Lupin Limited. Lupin develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of generic and branded generic formulations and APIs for the developed and the developing markets.

Currently positioned amongst the top five pharmaceutical companies of India, Lupin has secured global leadership position in anti-TB and cephalosporins and has a significant presence in the areas of cardiovasculars (prils and statins), diabetology, asthma and NSAIDs.

For the year ended March 2008, Lupin had consolidated revenues and profit after tax of Rs2,773 crore ($ 694 million) and Rs408 crore ($ 102 million) respectively.