Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim logs fastest CAGR in diabetes drug segment

German pharma major Boehringer Ingelheim clocked a 43.7 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in the domestic anti-diabetes therapy segment in the past three years, catapulting to the eighth spot from the 15th position in 2016.

The company’s new launches and marketing tie-ups helped propel growth.

Boehringer saw the highest growth among leading diabetes players in the market. With a turnover of Rs 3.56 billion from the anti-diabetes segment, the company enjoys a 3.18 per cent market share in the over Rs 100 billion Indian diabetes market.

Boehringer Ingelheim India’s Managing Director Sharad Tyagi said the company had a focussed strategy to bring in its innovation-based research molecules to India.

Besides, it forged a co-marketing tie up with homegrown pharma major Lupin in 2015 to reach out to a larger market. “Co-marketing partnerships such as that with Lupin have also played a major role in strengthening our presence and reaching out to a larger target audience,” Tyagi said.

In fact, on Wednesday, the company announced that it would further expand its partnership with Lupin to bring in two novel oral anti-diabetic pills (Gibtulio Met and Ajaduo)

In the diabetes space, Boehringer has increasingly focussed on the relatively new class of drugs, gliptins. The category of drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes is growing at a 40 per cent rate, but is also one of the most competitive segments with over 160 brands vying for the huge diabetes market. Compared to this, the overall diabetes segment has clocked around 15 per cent CAGR in the last three years.

As such, the gliptin market in India has been growing through co-marketing tie-ups — four key gliptins (Sitagliptin, Linagliptin, Vildagliptin and Saxagliptin) are currently sub-licensed to around 20 drug makers who market them under various brands.

Boehringer, for example, focussed on a relatively younger molecule in gliptins, Linagliptin (which has a clocked a five-year CAGR of over 20 per cent) for which it tied up with Lupin in 2015. Boehringer launched Trajentra Duo (a fixed dose combination of linagliptin and metformin) in 2014. The next year, it tied up with Lupin for launching its second brand of linagliptin (under brand names Ondero and Ondero Met).

The German major then brought in its novel molecule Empaglifozin, co-developed with Eli Lilly, in 2016. Jardiance, one of the largest brands of Boehringer in India, was launched at a competitive price of around Rs 45 for a day’s dose. The company had doubled its diabetes field force at that time to push its therapy.

This year, it has launched two combination drugs of Empaglifozin, one with metformin and another with Linagliptin.

Major global firms have taken the partnership route to market Gliptins, a roughly Rs 25-30 billion market. In January, Cipla tied up with Swiss drug maker Novartis to sell its Vildagliptin. Alkem had tied up with South Korean drug maker Dong A to launch Evogliptin. Novartis has tie ups with USV Pharma, Emcure, and Abbott for Vildagliptin.