Mumbai: A major producer of diabetes drugs, USV marked its entry into insulin with the launch of locally made rapid acting InsuQuick, along with collaborator Biogenomics.
The two have launched InsuQuick, the country’s first biosimilar version of rapid acting Insulin Aspart, said USV.
Insulin Aspart is internationally sold under the brandnames NovoLog or NovoRapid by multinational Novo Nordisk. The availability of a biosimilar version gives people with diabetes more treatment options, specially since India is home to the world’s second-largest population that’s affected. Insuquick is the first biosimilar of Insulin Aspart available in India to date, and the only one authorised by the Drug Controller General of India, a person familiar with the development, told businessline.
The locally made InsuQuick has been developed and manufactured using using “100 per cent indigenous technology, and has undergone a robust clinical program to ensure global quality standards”, said USV. Insuquick will be available in cartridges, vials, and pre-filled disposable pens, giving flexibility to people with diabetes, it said. The disposable and reusable pens are contemporary and lightweight in design, and have a legible scale and audible clicks for precise incremental settings, it added.
Insuquick cartridge is priced at ₹700 for a cartridge; Insuquick VDPen costs ₹915 and Insuquick vial ₹2,321, said a spokesperson for USV. The product will be available in all metros, and Tier I/II cities, said the company.
Over 11 per cent of the country’s adult population, about 101 million people, live with diabetes, said the company, adding that an additional 136 million people were pre-diabetic with the risk of full-blown diabetes in a short time.
Prashant Tewari, USV Managing Director, said that as a leader in the oral anti-diabetes segment, the entry into injectables was a strategic step towards bolstering their market presence and aspiration to lead in the diabetes market. The collaboration with Biogenomics was to provide a quality product, he added.
Sanjay Sonar, Co-Founder and President of Biogenomics, added that the product was a result of over 10 years of research and development work. Archana Krishnan, Co-Founder and Director of Biogenomics, pointed out it was entirely made with indigenous technology “using fingerprint-like similarity for structure conformation and a robust clinical program to establish efficacy and safety.”
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