Nepal

Eli Lilly's once-weekly diabetes therapy Trulicity (dulaglutide) appears to have made its Indian debut priced at a premium compared with certain Western markets –an indication that some innovator firms are less likely to consider major pricing flexibilities in first-wave markets for new products, even if these are emerging economies.

Eli Lilly & Co. appears to be on course to bringing its anticancer, Cyramza (ramucirumab), to India, after a key local expert panel recommended the product for marketing in two indications.

Innovator firms continue to tap into the marketing muscle of domestic companies as they vie for a bigger share of India's highly competitive dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor market.

Bangladesh's Beximco Pharmaceuticals may not be the first onto the local market with its cut-price version of Gilead's hepatitis C blockbuster Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), but the company appears to be pulling out all the stops to establish a stronghold in the market.

Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) and Eli Lilly are revamping the operational structure of their diabetes alliance in India – among the few markets where going solo is expected to improve efficiencies and launch focus in the segment.

Natco Pharma has received regulatory approval to launch generic sofosbuvir tablets 400mg in India –the first company to get such clearance in the country.

Asia is where the buzz around the first Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) generics is happening. First Gilead firmed up licensing deals with a clutch of Indian firms putting a lid on the pricing debate on the product in the region, at least temporarily.

More competition is set to arrive on the Indian insulin analog market. South Korea's LG Life Sciences is introducing its insulin glargine through Lupin on the Indian market.

Emcure Pharmaceuticals will market Sanofi's oncology portfolio in India as part of efforts by both partners to leverage the benefits of providing a comprehensive and complementary range of products in the segment.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals has acquired the branded domestic formulations business of the Indian firm, Elder Pharmaceuticals, for INR20bn ($323.5m), ending months of speculation of an imminent deal and apparently pipping fancier suitors, such as Sanofi, along the way.

Two of India's top 15 drug companies by market share - Emcure Pharmaceuticals and Intas Pharmaceuticals - have filed for initial public offerings amid some general concern that the pharmaceutical sector may no longer be a blind defensive play. But industry experts nevertheless believe that investor enthusiasm is unlikely to be dimmed for the proposed offerings, which are also expected to facilitate the part exits of leading private equity firms.

The World Trade Organization has granted the world's poorest countries a five-year stay of execution for applying WTO TRIPS Agreement intellectual property rules to pharmaceuticals. But the WTO's "half-hearted compromise" on a plea from least-developed countries to exempt them altogether is unsatisfactory because the exemption is still time bound, says Médecins Sans Frontières.

Generics companies are likely to suffer if a plea from the world's poorest countries to be exempt from tough international intellectual property rights protection rules is ignored, warns Médecins Sans Frontières.

Global partners in the diabetes segment, Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly, are launching Boehringer's once-daily dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, Trajenta (linagliptin 5mg), in India at a fraction of its international prices.

Lupin has reported a 22% increase in net sales to Rs69.59 billion ($1.29 billion) for the year ended March 2012 backed by strong growth across its key geographies of the US, Japan and India, but tax expenses took the sheen off profits during the year. Net profits increased marginally to Rs8.67 billion as compared with Rs8.62 billion, largely due to a 168.3% increase in tax outflows to Rs3.08 billion on account of an increase in effective tax rates and tax on inventories shipped to overseas subsidiaries for new launches. Profits in the last quarter declined by 31% to Rs1.56 billion on account of tax expenses.

Nilesh Gupta, Lupin's group president, told Scrip that the company anticipates about 25 generic launches in the US in the next fiscal year, roughly half of these in the 'fairly lucrative' oral contraceptives segment. In the third quarter, Lupin launched three oral contraceptive products in the US, including the authorised generic for Femcon Fe from Warner Chilcott which has garnered a share of about 15-20%. Currently half of Lupin's 32 marketed generic products in the US rank number one by market share and 30 of the 32 are in the top three by market share, the company said. The company received seven ANDA approvals in the quarter including those for zidovudine, minocylcine ER, duloxetine DR and fenofibrate.

Global partners in the diabetes segment, Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly, have entered into an India-specific co-promotion deal for a basket of diabetes compounds in both late-stage development or on the market, adding to the string of such alliances in the country.

A string of new marketing deals is set to redefine competition in the growing Indian diabetes market. The latest alliance involves Lilly and Lupin, where the Indian firm will promote and distribute Lilly's Huminsulin range in India and Nepal, doubling doctor reach for the insulin products to about 45,000 almost overnight.

The pentavalent vaccine Shan5 (DTwP-hepatitis B-Hib), which is made by Indian firm Shantha Biotechnics that was acquired by Sanofi Pasteur last year, has been taken off the World Health Organization's list of pre-qualified vaccines.

Cote d'Ivoire has created a vaccine committee which will advise the government on the prioritisation of new vaccines and immunisation coverage in the country.