Merck decides not to enter insulin market after all

15 October 2018

New Jersey’s Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) has reportedly backed away from taking a biosimilar follow-on product to market in the USA, despite already having tentative approval to do so from the US Food and Drug Administration.

The insulin glargine product, which was to have been sold as Lusduna, would have faced significant headwinds in a saturated and mature market. Others, such as Danish diabetes giant Novo Nordisk (NOV: N) have faced similar pressures.

According to a stock exchange filing, the American company will be forced to shell out over $150 million to its South Korean development partner Samsung Bioepis to terminate the project.

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