Novo Nordisk, which currently enjoys over a 50 per cent share of India’s insulin market, is planning to introduce its long-acting basal insulin Icodec that needs to be taken only once a week and an obesity drug in the country by 2025. It has started conversations with its manufacturing partner Torrent Pharmaceuticals to double its manufacturing capacity.
As for the oral long-acting GLP-1 analogue obesity drug that is intended for once-daily treatment, Novo Nordisk is witnessing huge demand globally, Shrotriya said. “We are working on creating higher capacities. Talks are on with our current partner Torrent Pharmaceuticals in India as we are looking to double our capacities here,” he said.
Both for Icodec and the obesity drug, Indian patients are part of the global trials. “India is part of every clinical trial done by Novo Nordisk. In fact, at this point, around 36 clinical trials are ongoing here across 300 clinical trial sites,” he said. Around 150 people are working on clinical trials in India, and on top of this, there is also a team of over 700 people who work in medical writing, data analytics, regulatory writing, etc, for India and also global trials. Shrotriya claimed that India now accounts for 8 per cent of Novo Nordisk’s global clinical trials.
India’s insulin market is estimated to be around Rs. 3,500-4,000 crore, growing at a 10 per cent CAGR. India’s oral diabetes market is around Rs. 13,000-14,000 crore and is clocking an 11 per cent CAGR.
India is estimated to have 100 million diabetics, most of whom are either undiagnosed or not on chronic medication. Around a fourth of this population is expected to be on medication.
