Biocon targets Rs 100 cr from psoriasis drug in next 4 years

New Delhi/BANGALORE, Jan 25, 2013, DHNS & PTI:

Biotechnology firm Biocon on Friday said it plans to launch a skin disease drug under the brand Alzumab in India in the current year and aims to garner Rs 100 crore in sales in the next four years.

We expect it (Alzumab) to be a Rs 100 crore product in next four years, Biocon Chairman and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told reporters in a conference call.

The company plans to launch the product during second quarter of the current year, she added.

Shaw said that the company invested little less than Rs 100 crore on developing the product" and added the company was confident that "we will recover it.

Earlier this year, the company received approval from drug controller (DCGI) to market 'Itolizumab', used in the treatment of psoriasis. It would be launched under the brand name Alzumab.

The global market size for psoriasis drugs is estimated to cross $8 billion by 2016. The product will be manufactured and formulated as an infusion drug at Biocon's biopharma manufacturing facility in Biocon Park, Bangalore.

When asked about her views on compulsory licensing, Shaw expressed a view that she was not in favour the law. It should be the last option rather than the first, she said

According to WTO agreement, a compulsory license can be invoked by a national government through allowing someone else to produce a patented product or process without the consent of the patent owner, to protect interest of the larger public.

Q3 net up 8%

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Biocon targets Rs 100 cr from psoriasis drug in next 4 years