Page 104 - NPPA full book

INNOVATION AND ACCESSIBILITY IN TREATMENT OF

DIABETES

s the number of patients rises, diabetes is the leading cause of a rising%age of national health care expenditure

increase globally. Within the next 25 years, it is anticipated to become a leading cause of mortality and disability

A worldwide, and experts advise taking urgent action to identify treatment options that are affordable.

According to a paper published in the International Journal of Advanced Research in Medicine (2021), the adoption of generic

medications can help to reverse the trend of rising costs. When researchers analysed the prices of the most often prescribed

branded and generic drugs, they found that patients who were offered the generic options made significant financial savings.

For instance, a generic version of Metformin 50 mg costs 40% less than the brand-name version. The other generics, on the
other hand, had disparities up to 75.8%, making this the most economical choice.

Indian pharmaceutical companies have played a significant role in the development of high-quality generic versions of diabetes

treatments, such as insulin and oral therapies. Because they are reasonably priced than their branded equivalents, these generic

medications are more widely available. Few such examples are given below:

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) for Balaglitazone

It was the first Indian company to out-license, in 1997, a molecule, Balaglitazone 1 (DRF-2593), a thiazolidinone (or glitazone)-

type PPARγ agonist for the treatment of diabetes, and in 1998 a second molecule, ragaglitazar 2 (DRF-2725), a dual PPAR α/γ
insulin sensitizer for metabolic disorders, to Novo Nordisk.

Biocon breakthrough (2004)

Biocon leveraged its expertise in fermentation technology to indigenously develop and produce insulins. It harnessed its
proprietary yeast-based platform to develop the world’s first Pichia pastoris-derived recombinant human Insulin and launched

the product for patients in India in 2004. Biocon is today a leading insulin player globally and has provided over 3.75 billion

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