India has become a critical market and clinical trial site for Novo Nordisk as the top Danish drugmaker focuses on chronic diseases beyond diabetes.
Novo Nordisk, which currently enjoys more than 50 percent of the Indian insulin market, plans to introduce its once-a-week long-acting basal insulin Icodec and obesity drug to the country by 2025. It has started talks with its manufacturing partner Torrent Pharmaceuticals to double its manufacturing capacity.
Speaking to Business Standard, Vikrant Shrotriya, Managing Director and Corporate Vice President of India Business at Novo Nordisk, said: โOur focus is chronic disease and we are activating there; we want to have therapies for the entire spectrum of chronic diseases. . All these diseases โ diabetes, liver and kidney disease, high blood pressure and heart problems โ are interconnected.โ He further said that the company's strategy would be to bring the latest releases in Denmark and the US soon to India.
As for the long-acting GLP-1 analogue oral obesity drug that is designed for once-daily treatment, Novo Nordisk is experiencing high demand globally, Shrotriya said. โWe are working on the creation of greater capacities. We are in discussions with our current partner, Torrent Pharmaceuticals in India, as we look to double down on our capabilities here,โ she said.
Although Shrotriya did not comment on the investment, according to industry estimates, setting up an insulin or biologics manufacturing plant requires around Rs. 300 crores as investment.
For both Icodec and the obesity drug, Indian patients are part of global trials. โIndia is part of all clinical trials conducted by Novo Nordisk. In fact, right now about 36 clinical trials are underway here at 300 clinical trial sites,โ he said. Around 150 people are working on clinical trials in India, and in addition to this, there is also a team of more than 700 people working on medical writing, data analysis, regulatory writing, etc., for India and also global trials. Shrotriya claimed that India now accounts for 8 percent of Novo Nordisk's global clinical trials.
Of Novo Nordisk's total force of 55,000 people, India hosts around 4,500.
The Indian insulin market is estimated to be around Rs. 3,500-4,000 crore, growing at a CAGR of 10%. India's oral diabetes market is around Rs. 13,000-14,000 crore and is registering a CAGR of 11 percent.
Novo Nordisk cares for around 3-4 million patients in India and makes around 40-50 million vials of insulin here. Torrent Pharmaceutical manufactures insulin for Novo Nordisk in Gujarat from crystals imported from Denmark.
India has an estimated 100 million diabetics, most of whom are undiagnosed or not on chronic medications. About a quarter of this population is expected to take medication.
Around 30 percent of diabetics are expected to require insulin, making India one of the most coveted markets globally for insulin players.
