Hoechst, Nicholas Piramal to co-market two products

Ananth Iyer
01 July 1999

Pharma major Hoechst Marion Roussel has licensed co-marketing rights to Nicholas Piramal India Ltd for two anti-diabetic products -- glimepiride and human insulin. The agreement, signed recently by the two companies, allows Nicholas Piramal to market these products under its own brand name.

This is Hoechst Marion Roussel's second co-marketing deal in the last one year after it licensed its anti-histamine drug Allegra to Ranbaxy Laboratories.

Glimepiride, an original HMR research product, belongs to the sulphonylurea class of drugs. The drug, indicated for adults with type II diabetes mellitus, was launched in India in April 1999 under the brand name 'Amaryl'. The drug is available in two different strengths of 1 mg and 2 mg tablets. The human insulin brand 'Insuman' is a four-year old product and is available in four different strengths - Insuman 50/50, Insuman 25/75, Insuman Basal and Insuman Rapid.

Madhukar Kurtkoti, president, ethical pharmaceuticals, Nicholas Piramal, told domain-b that the products will be taken up for marketing once the brand names are finalised -- which is expected to happen by mid-July 1999. The brands will be marketed by the company's Extracare division, which focuses primarily on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and ailments of the central nervous system. The division has a field strength of 210 medical representatives.

The inclusion of glimepiride and human insulin is likely to strengthen Nicholas Piramal's anti-diabetic business, which so far did not include human insulins. According to IMS Health,  Insuman sales are estimated at Rs 5.7 crore. (For more details of the IMS Health survey of the Indian pharmaceuticals market, click here.)

Nicholas Piramal's anti-diabetic product portfolio comprises four brands -- Euglucon, Semi-Euglucon, Gluformin and Diabetrol. Of these, Diabetrol is the sole product introduced by the company, while the other three were inherited from Boehringer Mannheim in 1996.