Powering Ahead with Humulin

Eli Lilly and Company, based at Indianapolis, USA, is a global pharmaceutical leader. It is one of the Fortune 500 companies. Eli Lilly employs more than 43,000 people worldwide and markets its medicines in 146 countries.

At the global level, Eli Lilly has an image of an innovation-driven pharmaceutical corporation, developing a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products, by applying the latest research from its very own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations.

Eli Lilly & Company (India) is a 100 percent subsidiary of the parent company. It came to India in 1993 as a 50:50 joint venture with the Indian drug major, Ranbaxy Laboratories. This venture was primarily set up for manufacturing and marketing of select drugs of Eli Lilly and Ranbaxy in the markets of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. Later, Eli Lilly acquired the 50 percent equity stake of Ranbaxy and converted it into its wholly owned subsidiary.

The biotech turnover of Eli Lilly (India) was Rs 67.46 crore in 2003-04. The company is targeting to achieve Rs 94.52 crore from its biotech business in the current year. The total turnover of the company was Rs 141.39 crore in 2003-04.

Out of its biotech turnover, the major chunk of sales revenue came from Human Insulin. This product alone has generated revenues to the tune of Rs 56.59 crore in 2003-04. Eli Lilly sold over 370,000 units of its insulin drug and nearly 50,000 units of other products like Insulin Lispro, Somatropin, Drotrecogin Alfa and Teriparatide in 2003-04. The Indian subsidiary has increased the employee strength to 537 from 520 last year, majority of whom have a scientific background.

The company has indigenized the r-DNA Human insulin and named it as Huminsulin, which was previously being imported in fully finished form. Currently it is being formulated at MJPL, Gujarat. Eli Lilly India has been identified as one of the highest performing organization in the Watson Wyatt survey.

In the critical care area, Lilly's product Xigris is probably the only treatment option for severe sepsis. Similarly in oncology, it offers a safe and effective therapeutic option, Gemcite, for lung, pancreatic and bladder cancer. And for cardiovascular patients it has ReoPro, a drug that is used as an adjunct to PTCA (angioplasty). These segments are the major growth areas for Eli Lilly India.

The other products introduced by Eli Lilly India are Distaclor, an oral cephalosporin antibiotic to treat bacterial infections in both adults and children for treating infections of chest, ear and throat; Fotreo for the treatment of men and postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Vancocin, an antibiotic for treating severe infections; and Humatrope for the long-term treatment of pediatric patients having growth failure due to inadequate secretion of normal endogenous growth hormone.

The company is presently conducting nearly two-dozen clinical trials of its various products, which are in advance stages of development. It is spending more than 10 percent of its annual turnover on clinical trials in India.