India’s Pharma Billionaire Eyes Crown of World’s Top Insulin Supplier

Article content

(Bloomberg) — Sign up for the daily India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi – an insider’s guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise.

Article content

Indian drugmaker Biocon Ltd. is aiming to become the world’s top supplier of insulin in the coming years, its co-founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, by capturing growing demand for the critical drug while Big Pharma shifts its focus to other medicines. 

Article content

Article content

“In five years, we could be the number one insulin company in the world,” the 73-year-old pharma billionaire and Biocon Executive Chairperson said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Latitude with Haslinda Amin. “We are one of the few companies globally that has the scale to address that opportunity.”

Article content

Article content

Biocon makes generic drugs and biosimilars, which are biological medicines that are highly similar to brand-name drugs and typically sold for lower prices. The Bengaluru-based company is currently the third-largest insulin supplier by volume globally, and has invested “big time” in ramping up production capacity, Mazumdar-Shaw said.

Article content

Article content

Biocon’s latest ambitions outline the shifting dynamics of the $30 billion global insulin market, as the biggest players are increasingly redirecting resources toward next-generation metabolic medicines such as the glucagon-like peptides, or GLP-1s. Pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co., whose growth was powered by insulin sales for decades, are now doubling down on other diabetes and weight-loss drugs that generate higher growth and profits. 

Article content

More than 830 million people around the world live with diabetes, and millions depend on insulin therapy to manage the disease. Demand is expected to rise as diabetes prevalence increases across emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where access to affordable drugs remains uneven. Advocates worry that patients who depend on older insulin therapies are being left behind in the industry’s race to dominate next-gen markets. 

Article content

Article content

The current situation is a “windfall for me because I’m able to now fill in that gap and my insulin business has just taken off,” she said, adding that the firm is looking to add capacity by building partnerships across the world, including companies that have pen and cartridge facilities. 

Article content

Mazumdar-Shaw set up Biocon in 1978 as an industrial enzymes producer in a joint venture with an Irish company. Today, the Indian giant has a market capitalization of more than $7 billion. Mazumdar-Shaw has a net worth of $2.3 billion from her stakes in Biocon, contract research and development company Syngene International Ltd., and hospital network Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd., according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

Article content

‘Crowded Market’

Article content

Biocon’s strategy diverges from many pharmaceutical peers in India and internationally that are racing to enter the obesity and diabetes drug market. The patent for semaglutide, the key ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic, has started to expire globally including in countries like India and Canada — allowing cheaper versions to start flooding those markets.