Pharmaceutical Business review

Biocon signs licensing and supply deal for diabetes drug in Brazil

Brazil is claimed to be the fifth country in the world with the highest incidence of diabetes. Credit: Tesa Robbins from Pixabay.

This partnership is set to enhance the treatment options available to diabetes patients in Brazil.

Under the agreement, Biocon will be responsible for the development, manufacturing, and supply of Semaglutide, while Biomm will handle regulatory approvals and commercialisation within the Brazilian market.

Biomm, with a focus on biotechnology, aims to provide high-quality healthcare for chronic conditions and access to the latest treatments.

It develops, manufactures and commercialises complex biotech and biosimilar drug products at its production facility in Nova Lima.

Biocon CEO and managing director Siddharth Mittal said, “Our partnership with Biomm marks another important step forward in our strategy to expand our global footprint beyond the U.S. and Europe for Peptides. This is also in line with our growth strategy of bringing to market a portfolio of complex, GLP-1 drug-device combination products.

“We are confident that our collaboration with Biomm will provide patients in Brazil, who are living with diabetes, much needed access to advanced, high quality treatment options to help them manage the disease better.”

Biomm CEO Heraldo Marchezini said: “Brazil is the fifth country in the world with the highest incidence of diabetes, having 16.8 million adults in the age group of 20 to 79 years with the disease, and an estimated 21.5 million cases by 2030, according to the Diabetes Atlas of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

“We have, therefore, prioritised strategic partnerships to expand the population’s access to advanced treatments for this disease and enhance the quality of life for people”.

The potential market for Semaglutide in Brazil is significant, with an estimated value of approximately $580m, according to IQVIA MAT for Q4 2023.