Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said it has launched a biosimilar of the popular anti‐diabetic drug, Liraglutide, for the first time in India that will lower the cost of therapy by 70 percent.
Shares of the Indian pharma major, however, traded marginally down at Rs 888.50 at 9.40am on the NSE.
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The drug is being marketed under the brand name Lirafit following approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). Priced at Rs 100 for a standard daily dose of 1.2mg, the drug will be available only under prescription.
As per an ICMR‐INDIAB study conducted between October 2008 and December 2020, the overall weighted prevalence of diabetes was 11.4 percent in India. According to IQVIA sales data for the 12 months ended August 2023 (MAT August 2023), the market for GLP‐1 RA in India is estimated at Rs 259 crore, with an annual growth of 108 percent over last year (MAT August 2022).
“With this launch, we have now ventured into the injectable anti‐diabetic market taking another significant stride in the diabetes therapy space,” said Alok Malik, president and business head for India formulations at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
Liraglutide has a proven efficacy in improving glycemic control in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus. Additional benefits of liraglutide include effectively lowering glycemic parameters, weight reduction, and cardiovascular safety in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus.
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) also recommends GLP1RAs therapy for weight loss and lesser risk of hypoglycemia in such patients. GLP‐1 RAs reduce cardiovascular risk and ASCVD or high cardiovascular risk and have beneficial effects on cardio‐renal outcomes beyond their blood glucose‐lowering effects in type-2 diabetes mellitus patients.
Also read: Nirma gets CCI nod for picking up majority stake in Glenmark Life Sciences
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