Cipla India seals deal with Eli Lilly to sell Trulicity and Humalog products

Cipla India has signed a deal with Eli Lilly to sell, promote and distribute its best-selling diabetes treatments – Trulicity and Humalog products. Through the deal, Cipla will leverage its distribution network and doctor-connect through its sales force to expand the reach of Lilly’s insulin.

Luca Visini, Managing Director, India subcontinent, Lilly India, said developing strategic partnerships to adopt different operating models is key to enabling Lilly’s global efforts to make innovative medicines available to more people in India and around the world. “Today, we are proud to be announcing our partnership with Cipla, which, pending full regulatory approvals, will hold the rights to sell, market and distribute select Lilly Diabetes portfolio products. Cipla has a strong local footprint and is well established to expand access to those medicines around India.”

Vikas Gupta, head, India Prescription Business, Cipla, said diabetes continues to be the company’s key focus and this deal further strengthens their steadfast commitment to address the unmet needs of diabetes patients through a comprehensive portfolio of offerings in this space.

Lilly is one of the Big Three in insulin play globally. Only three companies- Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and Eli Lilly supply insulin to patients in the United States. These three companies known as the Big Three, control over 90% of the global insulin market. The remaining share of the global insulin market is split among about seven manufacturers.

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Trulicity (Dulaglutide), a once-weekly shot to control blood sugar through the week, is Lilly’s best-selling drug that raked in sales of $1.54 billion in the second quarter. Humalog (Insulin Lispro), a fast-acting insulin injection, is also a key part of its diabetes portfolio.