Sanofi shakes up diabetes market in India

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Mumbai: French drug maker Sanofi SA, a relative newcomer in India’s Rs.4,600 crore diabetes management market, is changing the rules of the game by lowering prices and localizing products for treatment of the disease in a country that has the world’s second largest population of diabetes patients, next only to China.
The Paris-based pharmaceutical company in October launched a low-cost, reusable insulin pen called AllStar, priced at Rs.650. Used by patients for injecting insulin, the device is manufactured at a new facility in Gujarat, one of two such plants Sanofi has worldwide.
India, which is home to 61 million diabetes patients, had been importing such devices before the introduction of the product. The imports are not only priced higher, but are less convenient for use by Indian patients, said Shashank Joshi, a senior endocrinologist and consultant at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai.
“AllStar is a real trendsetter as it is the first such device developed to fit the country’s requirement in terms of insulin stability in Indian conditions, reusability of the device by changing the cartridge, and its affordability,” said Joshi.

Source: LiveMint (link opens in a new window)

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