Biocon signs insulin deal with Bristol-Myers

By siliconindia staff writer   |   Friday, 14 May 2004, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: Biotechnology firm Biocon Ltd said on Friday it had signed an agreement to supply recombinant human insulin in bulk form to US drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co for nine years. The two firms had already signed a letter of intent to enter into the supply agreement in September last year. "We have converted the letter of intent into a supply agreement, it is a nine-year contract," Biocon chairman Kiran Majumdar Shaw told a news conference called to announce results for year ended March 2004. "We already have orders on hand. They have given us a two-year time-line, after which they will start commercial off-take," she told Reuters on the sidelines. She declined to say how much the deal was worth. Biocon, which just made its stock market debut last month, said on Friday its net profit for the past year ended March 2004 rose to Rs 1.39 billion ($30.5 million) - three times its profit a year before, as revenue nearly doubled to Rs 5.5 billion. The Bangalore-based firm, which started out making industrial enzymes, has since diversified into pharmaceuticals and makes bulk drug ingredients, mainly for the statin class of cholesterol-lowering drugs as well as for immunosuppressants and anti-diabetic drugs. Insulin is another big product for Biocon. Besides the supply deal to Bristol Myers Squibb, Biocon also plans to sell recombinant human insulin in ready-to-take form in India, branded as Insugen, by the second quarter of the current financial year. It is currently awaiting regulatory approvals. Shaw said in a statement the business outlook for the current year was "very positive". "We expect substantial growth to be delivered by sales of pravastatin to Europe and from our new products including insulin, immunosuppressants and branded formulations," she said. Biocon said its facilities to make pravastatin, simvastatin, lovastatin and pioglitazone had received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, allowing it access to the $6 billion market for statins set to go off patent in the United States in 2006. Biocon's shares were down three per cent at Rs 527 in afternoon trade at the Bombay Stock Exchange, where the overall market was down more than five per cent in post-election jitters. Biocon shares are still 67 per cent higher than their issue price of Rs 315.

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