Lupin joins hand with Polish firm Celon for dry powder inhaler product

Lupin has entered into an agreement with Celon Pharma, a Polish biopharmaceutical company, to jointly develop fluticasone/salmeterol dry powder inhaler (DPI) product which is a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair Diskus. While Lupin will be responsible for commercialisation of the product, Celon will supply the product to Lupin for its commercialisation in the US, Canada, Mexico, and other key markets. GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair Diskus had global sales of over $ 7 billion as of last fiscal.
 
Vinita Gupta, CEO, Lupin, said, “This collaboration is an important milestone in Lupin’s efforts to evolve its global inhalation pipeline. We are very pleased to partner with Celon given their experience in the development and manufacturing of fluticasone/salmeterol DPI in Europe. This coupled with Lupin’s expertise in inhalation product development and commercialisation in the US and other markets will accelerate the development of generic Advair Diskus for global markets.”
 
Maciej Wieczorek, CEO and managing director, Celon, said, “Our scientific and technical teams look forward to collaborating with Lupin to bring this product to major markets outside of Poland. We are enthusiastic and believe that both the companies would work together to complete a time bound research and development program to ensure successful registration in targeted markets, for Lupin to effectively commercialie the product.”