Lupin ties up with Italian drug major

The Rs 1300-crore pharmaceutical company Lupin has signed an in-licensing agreement with ItalFarmaco, a $500-million Italian drug major, to exclusively market the latter's cardiovascular critical care product "� Enoxaparin Sodium Injection "� in pre-filled syringes under the Lupenox brand, in India.

ItalFarmaco is a leading manufacturer of a number of APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) in Italy. The manufacturing of pre-filled syringes is an area of expertise for the company, and its manufacturing plant has US Food & Drug Administration approval to manufacture the same.

ItalFarmaco has a workforce of over 1,000 people spread across Europe, South America, USA and Russia. The company's main research focus is in the area of cardiovascular and oncology therapy.

Sakti Chakraborty, president, India region formulations of Lupin, said the tie-up with ItalFarmaco was yet another effort in making international quality products affordable to Indian patients.

"We believe Lupenox, being a superior-quality product sourced from ItalFarmaco's US FDA-approved facility, will serve the needs of patients better," he said.

Lupin is currently a leading player in anti-TB, cephalosporins (anti-infectives) and cardiovascular drugs (prils and statins) and has a strong presence in the areas of diabetology and asthma. It has a programme for developing NCEs (new chemical entities) in its research and development centre in Pune.

ItalFarmaco general manager Diego said Lupin was the right marketing partner that ItalFarmaco always wanted to collaborate with because of its marketing presence in the Indian pharmaceutical market.

"ItalFarmaco believes that Lupin is equipped to market and promote Lupenox to doctors and pharmacists, and help Indian patients use our product and improve their health," he said.