Lilly plans $700m insulin plant expansion programme
pharmafile | November 18, 2013 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Taylor, lilly, manufacturingÂ
Eli Lilly has said it will invest more than $700 million to expand its production capacity for insulin products in North America, France, and China.
The company notes that it has earmarked around $1 billion in the last year for investment in its manufacturing capabilities, with around half of that total being spent on its primary facilities in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis and Puerto Rico will get around $245 million of the latest tranche of investment, with the money used to boost production of insulin active ingredients and delivery devices. Earlier this year, Lilly said it had raised its investment at Indianapolis by $180 million to $320 million as it completes construction of a new plant at the site.
The lion’s share ($350 million) of the new funding will go to boost insulin cartridge manufacturing in China, while France is also a gainer with $120 million set aside, once again to expand insulin cartridge production.
The diabetes category is growing well ahead of the underlying pharma market and driven by increasing prevalence of obesity in established markets, along with increasing affluence and lifestyle changes in emerging markets and the rising average age of the global population.
Figures from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) suggest some 382 million adults around the world have diabetes – costing an estimated $548 billion this year – and their number could reach 592 million over the next 25 years.
That said, Lilly’s announcement comes at a time when the insulin market has become increasingly competitive with newer products reaching the market and downward pressure on pricing, particularly in the US where some managed-care organisations and pharmacy benefit managers are starting to shift towards single-source formularies.
And with cost also a key consideration in emerging markets, it is important to improve efficiencies in manufacturing as Lilly jostles for market share with other top insulin producers such as Novo Nordisk and Sanofi.
According to the IDF, there are almost 100 million people in China with diabetes, with as many as three-quarters of them not having adequate control of their disease.
“The burden of diabetes knows no boundaries,” said Jacques Tapiero, president of Lilly’s emerging markets.
“In particular, our ongoing investment in China will help Lilly bring medicines to the country with the largest population of people with diabetes – and which is projected to rise to more than 142 million by 2035”.
Meanwhile, the company and other insulin producers are seeing sales under pressure from increased take-up of oral drugs and notably DPP-4 inhibitors such as Merck & Co’s Januvia (sitagliptin), Novartis’ Galvus (vildagliptin) and Lilly/Boehringer Ingelheim’s Tradjenta (linagliptin).
Another key trend in the diabetes market is the shift from human insulins to insulin analogues, and Lilly plans to take on top-selling analogue Lantus (insulin glargine) from Sanofi – a $6 billion a year brand – with a biosimilar version that will also compete with Novo’s rival product Levemir (insulin detemir).
All told Lilly has 14 new diabetes drugs in development – including the insulin glargine biosimilar, pegylated insulin lispro (LY2605541), SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin and GLP-1 receptor agonist dulaglutide.
Meanwhile, Sanofi is working to defend its Lantus franchise by developing an improved, longer-lasting formulation of the drug as well as a product combining insulin glargine with a GLP-1 agonist.
Phil Taylor
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