Biocon inks pact with Bayer

Biotech major Biocon Limited announced on Wednesday a licensing agreement with multinational healthcare corporation Bayer HealthCare for exclusive marketing and trademark rights for INSUGEN, a recombinant human insulin, for the Chinese market.

After completion of necessary local registration trials, INSUGEN is expected to be launched within the next two to three years in China, city-based Biocon said.

"It is envisaged that the collaboration will be expanded to other countries in Asia-Pacific", it said in a statement.

Biocon CMD Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said INSUGEN has already achieved critical mass in the Indian market with substantial market share gained since launch.

"We believe Bayer is strongly positioned to achieve significant market share for INSUGEN in China. This also signals Biocon's entry into branded formulations in the international market", she said.

Dr Jean-Luc Lowinski, senior vice president, Bayer HealthCare Asia Pacific, said the agreement is pursuant to Bayer HealthCare's local strategy to strengthen its Diabetes franchise, and at the same time, its presence in China.

"This deal is the first of its kind in the prescription pharmaceutical market in China", he said.

The exclusive marketing rights and trademark agreement covers three formulations of insulin Fast-acting(R), intermediate-acting(N), and mixed-acting, in both vials and cartridges which apply to both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

The incidence of diabetes is rapidly increasing in China, especially in urban areas and currently 40 million people in that country suffer from diabetes with are estimated 3000 new cases each day, the release said.

The shares of the company were trading at Rs 336, down 2.27 per cent at the BSE.

Q1 results: The company on Wednesday stated that it maintained a profit after tax at Rs 39 crore (Rs 390 million) for the quarter ended June 30 in comparision to the same quarter in 2005-06, due to higher fixed cost on account of Biocon Park.

The total income of the company increased 21.02 per cent to Rs 213 crore (Rs 2.13 billion) for the first quarter ended June 30 as against Rs 176 crore (Rs 1.76 billion) for the corresponding quarter a year ago, Biocon informed the the stock exchanges.

The total sales of the company for the quarter ended June 30 was at Rs 212 crore (Rs 2.12 billion) as compared to Rs 174 crore (Rs 1.74 billion) in the same quarter last fiscal, it added.

The Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation, Taxes and Amortization was at Rs 55 crore (Rs 550 million) for the three months ended June 30 as against Rs 52 crore (Rs 520 million) in the same period a year ago.

"Our financial performance for Q1 FY 07 has generated good profitability despite challenges. This underpins our confidence in pursuing discovery-led research programs. We believe that our innovation led business initiatives have the potential to realise exponencial growth in the long term and deliver superior shareholder value in the future," the CMD said.

The year ahead will continue to be challenging due to market conditions and the impact of depreciation at our new facilities at Biocon Park. The new growth drivers -- insulin, immuno-suppresants, branded formulations and monoclonal antibodies are building the bio-pharmacueticals business in a more robust manner and reducing the dependance on statins, she added.

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