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The development comes even as global pharmaceutical giants are making a bee-line to India to tie-up
with local drug makers to sell generic versions of patent-losing drugs globally in order to shore up their
revenues as nearly $150 billion worth of drugs are expected to lose their patents by 2015.It also comes
at a time when Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, is in the middle of a major restructuring following
its $68-billion merger with Wyeth in 2009 and is focused on its core pharmaceuticals business.
Both companies said in a joint statement that the reason for terminating the agreement was due to "the
individual priorities for their respective bio similar businesses, it is in their best interest to move forward
independently."
In October 2010, Pfizer entered into a deal with Biocon to sell the Indian drug maker's bio similar
versions of diabetes treatment insulin. Under the deal, Biocon was paid $200 million up front and was
also be eligible to receive additional development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $150
million in addition to payments related to sales of these medicines (See: Pfizer, Biocon enter into deal
for bio similar insulin)
Under the agreement, Biocon would be responsible for developing and manufacturing the treatments.
Its responsibility was also to secure regulatory approvals, and Pfizer was to have got exclusive rights to
commercialize Biocon's drugs - recombinant human insulin, Glargine, Aspart and Lispro – globally,
excepting in countries like Germany, India and Malaysia, where Biocon was to share co-exclusive rights
with Pfizer. With the deal being terminated, these rights have now reverted to Biocon and all insulin
distributed under the brand name Univia and Glarvia will be exclusively manufactured, supplied,
marketed, sold and supported by Biocon.
Biocon chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who set up the company in her garage in 1978, said that
Biocon will retain a "significant part" of the $200 million that Pfizer paid upfront as part of the deal and
will also receive an additional amount from the New York-based company for annulment of the deal.
Biocon would forfeit up to $150 million of payments linked to regulatory and sales milestones that it
could have received from Pfizer over the three to five years from 2010, she added.
Citing people privy to the deal, The Economic Times reported that "Pfizer was unhappy with the
progress on the partnership and often complained that Biocon lacked systems and processes to deliver
on commitments built into the product licensing deal." As part of the agreement, Biocon was to have set
up an insulin manufacturing plant in Malaysia, but was unable to do so within the stipulated time frame.
Although the deal was inked in October 2010, Biocon announced in September 2011, that it would
invest $161 million (Rs. 715 crore) to set up a bio-manufacturing and R&D facility in Bio-XCell, a biotech
park and ecosystem in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor, and the facility was to become operational by 2014
(See: Biocon to set biopharmaceutical plant, R&D centre in Malaysia).
The $14-billion global insulin market is dominated by three drug makers, Sanofi, Eli Lilly & Co and Novo
Nordisk. A deal with Pfizer would have given Biocon the advantage of the pharmaceutical giant's
worldwide marketing network.Biocon said that it will continue to work with its existing partners in
several markets and will pursue a commercial strategy on its own and through new alliances in other
markets.
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Tulip Telecom ties up with US' Polycom
Enterprise data services provider Tulip Telecom tied up with US-based Polycom to offer high definition
managed video conferencing solution to its customers in India. Tulip will host cloud-based video