Eris sees a sweet spot as it forays into insulin market, eyes 10% share

Ahmedabad-based chronic therapy-focused drug firm Eris Lifesciences (Eris) is foraying into an oligopolistic insulin market with its own insulin brand this month. The insulin market in India is dominated by multinationals like Sanofi and Novo Nordisk.

The Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) for insulin is worth Rs 3,500 crore. It has grown at a 10 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years. The leading players in this segment are Novo Nordisk (through a distribution arrangement with Abbott India) with 50 per cent share of the market, Sanofi (22 per cent), Lupin (11 per cent), and Biocon (7.5 per cent), according to the December 2021 moving annual turnover data from the AIOCD Pharmasofttech AWACS.

The oral anti-diabetic drug market is presently worth approximately Rs 12,000 crore and has grown at 11 per cent CAGR over the past five years.

Eris, which now controls 4.3 per cent share of the oral anti-diabetes drug market (December 2021), is targeting 10 per cent share in the insulin segment in the next five years, says its Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer V Krishnakumar.

Eris is launching its dedicated insulin division with 140 medical representatives (salesforce). The first products will include human insulin (February) and then the insulin pen (cartridge) called the Eris Pen.

It plans to launch insulin glargine in 2023. Other products in the pipeline include aspart (short-acting man-made version of the human insulin), lispro (fast-acting insulin), and liraglutide (injectable medicine to lower blood sugar levels, not insulin).

Krishnakumar admits that the insulin market is typically a high-entry barrier market with few players dominating the space. He says it is access and control over production of insulin that plays a critical role in this space.

Eris tied up with MJ Biopharm in December 2021 in a 70:30 joint venture (where Eris holds 70 per cent) to leverage market opportunity in the development and manufacturing of human insulin. MJ Biopharm has a track record of developing advanced biological formulations from pre-clinical to the regulatory approval stage. It has supplied over 14 million vials per annum and over 4 million cartridges per annum of the human insulin to 25 countries since 2015.

As a strategy, Eris is focused on the chronic drugs segment.

“Over the past five years, the contribution of acute therapies to Eris’ portfolio has reduced from 16 per cent to 8 per cent. This is because our chronic and sub-chronic portfolios have grown much faster. This trend is expected to continue,” says Krishnakumar.

Acute therapies typically comprise drugs like antibiotics, pain and analgesics, but they account for 47 per cent of IPM. Chronic therapies, on the other hand, are cardiovascular drugs, diabetes medications, which patients have to take regularly.

The chronic therapy segments showed resilience during the pandemic when acute therapy sales fell sharply.

The oral diabetes drug segment contributes 32 per cent to Eris’ overall sales, while cardiac-care drugs contribute around 27 per cent. 

Krishnakumar is confident of cracking the insulin market, based on Eris' performance in the oral anti-diabetes drug market. “In the past two years, the oral anti-diabetes drug market grew at a CAGR of 6 per cent, whereas Eris' diabetes portfolio registered a CAGR of 18 per cent. Eris grew at 3x of the market rate,” he adds.

He adds that the insulin market is largely a service-oriented one. Eris plans to bundle the product, technology, and service elements into its offering. Eris will also help its patients with 24x7 blood glucose monitoring in the first few weeks after initiation.

“We plan to launch our Circa range of continuous glucose monitors in the next few months. This service will be provided under the umbrella of our overall patient-care platform, which enjoys strong credibility with physicians, as well as patients,” he observes.

Diabetes is a growth area for IPM. As Krishnanath Munde, associate director, India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra), puts it: “India is the 'Diabetes Capital of the World', as it accounts for 17 per cent of the total diabetics in the world. Also, there are significant opportunities in the near to medium term, led by upcoming patent expiry of large anti-diabetic molecules in India. Ind-Ra notes that the market share of anti-diabetic therapy has increased 420 basis points to 9.2 per cent of IPM sales in 2021, from 5.2 per cent in 2010, representing the highest market-share gain among all therapies.”