India had as estimated 101 million diabetics in 2023, with another 136 million people in pre-diabetic state. Among them, 11 million people are on insulin therapy.

It’s a market worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore with Novo Nordisk as the leader, controlling 60%. Two other MNCs—Sanofi and Eli Lilly—control another 25%.

All three companies are phasing out their insulin products in the country.

One pair of entities stand to benefit from those departures: the Bengaluru-based Biocon Group and its new commercial partner, Eris Lifesciences.

Even though Biocon is India’s largest pharmaceutical company, it never had more than 10% share of the country’s insulin market. The MNCs consistently kept Biocon’s influence in India in check, so the firm took its insulin business overseas, to countries such as Malaysia, Mexico, and the United States.

But the vacuum at home will change things for Biocon-Eris very soon.

Seema Singh and Sudeshna Ray cover this development in this week’s edition of Make India Competitive Again.

Read this edition: https://the-ken.com/newsletter/make-india-competitive-again/100-mn-diabetics-still-no-country-for-insulin/

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