Lupin to market MSD vaccine in India

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of North America, has entered into an India specific partnership with local drugmaker Lupin (BSE: 500257) for a non-exclusive license to market, promote and distribute MSD’s 23-valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine under a different brand name in India. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Announcing the partnership, Shakti Chakraborty, group president, India & CIS countries, at Lupin, said: “We are pleased to be associated with MSD in India. This partnership bears testimony to Lupin’s leadership credentials in the Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM), 2.8 % market share of the overall IPM (IMS TSA MAT, March 2013), not to mention leadership specifically in the cardiovascular, diabetes and respiratory therapy segments as also our existing market reach within the IPM. We believe that the partnership is an important step-forward as both companies share a common passion and commitment to make a meaningful difference to the lives of patients suffering from Pneumococcal diseases in India.”

Worldwide 1.6 million people die of pneumococcal disease every year which translates to three people dying every minute. Adults with co-morbid conditions like chronic lung disease (COPD, etc), diabetes, chronic heart diseases, chronic liver diseases, immune compromised diseases as well as adults more than 65 years of age are at increased risk for pneumococcal diseases than healthy adults