Biocon shares jump 5% on launch of diabetes drug in US

Shares of Biocon jumped over 5 percent in morning trade on BSE on September 1, a day after the company announced the launch of a diabetes drug in the US market.

As per a regulatory filing on BSE, Biocon Biologics India, a subsidiary of Biocon, and Mylan N.V., announced the US launch of Semglee™ (insulin glargine injection) in a vial and pre-filled pen presentations, approved to help control high blood sugar in adult and pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes and adults with type 2 diabetes.

It is not recommended for the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis. Semglee, which received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has an identical amino acid sequence to Sanofi’s Lantus® and is approved for the same indications, the BSE filing said.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon said: “The commercialization of our insulin glargine in the US represents another milestone achievement for Biocon in making insulin-based therapy increasingly accessible for people with diabetes globally."

"We are confident that along with our long-standing partner Mylan, we will be able to address the needs of millions of patients living with diabetes in the US Leveraging our science and global scale manufacturing expertise, we have been expanding affordable access to biosimilar insulins to patients in Japan, Australia, Europe, India and key emerging markets. The US launch of Semglee takes us closer to realizing our aspiration of reaching ‘one in five’ insulin dependent people with diabetes worldwide.”