NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, October 31, 2014

US drug maker Eli Lilly and Company said on Thursday that it had shared the manufacturing technology for two antibiotic drugs meant for the treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) with India’s Shasun Pharmaceuticals Ltd as part of its ongoing programme to increase access of these medicines in countries including India, China, Russia and South Africa, where drug-resistant TB is most prevalent.

Shasun Pharma, which is set to be merged with Bangalore-based drug exporter Strides Arcolab Ltd shortly, is expected to make the medicines available in the domestic market by December.

Eli Lilly’s technology transfer programme was part of its response to a dramatic global rise in MDR-TB cases in the late 1990s and early 2000. Until that time, Eli Lilly manufactured and supplied nominal quantities of two TB medicines—capreomycin and cycloserine. After independent researchers found that these two TB medicines were also effective in treating drug-resistant TB, Eli Lilly doubled production and subsidized prices of the medicines. However, global demand was projected to quickly outpace manufacturing capacity, and Eli Lilly sought a longer-term solution for people needing these medicines.