Biocon Biologics Ltd, a fully integrated ‘pure play’ biosimilars company and a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd in continuation of its Mission 10 cents affordable insulins programme for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC), a faith-based organisation active in Africa. CSSC works closely with the government as well as international and national partners to facilitate health and education services. Tanzania will be the first country in Africa that will benefit from this collaboration between Biocon Biologics and CSSC.

As a leading global insulins player, Biocon Biologics is helping unlock universal access to quality insulins in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by making recombinant human insulin (rh-insulin) available for less than $0.10 per day as a part of its ‘Mission 10 cents’ programme. Besides improving access to insulin treatment by making affordable yet high quality insulin available, Biocon Biologics is working with local partners to help strengthen overall healthcare capacity with the aim of supporting all people with diabetes in LMICs, where diabetes prevalence has been rising more rapidly than in high-income countries.

Tanzania is among the top 5 countries for the number of people with diabetes in Africa. An estimated 19.4 million adults aged 20-79 years were living with diabetes in the IDF Africa Region in 2019, representing a regional prevalence of ~4%.

Dr Christiane Hamacher, CEO & Managing Director, Biocon Biologics, said: “We aspire to co-create with our partner a patient ecosystem that goes beyond the product to transform the lives of millions of diabetes patients globally.”

Dr Alexander Zach, Global Head of Market Access & Policy, Biocon Biologics, said, “Our vision is to build a long-term, integrated disease management ecosystem that enables affordable diabetes management and better patient outcomes in Tanzania through our partner to expand the reach of our ‘Mission 10 cents’ programme.”

Peter Maduki, CEO, CSSC, said, “CSSC will use its newly established pharmaceutical company Mission for Essential Medical Supplies (MEMS) to supply the recombinant human insulin (rh-insulin) to both Faith based, private and public health facilities across the whole country.”

The programme is expected to roll-out early next year and will include community-based health promotion, disease awareness campaigns, screening programmes, capacity building of health facilities and training of healthcare professionals.