Merck KGaA/BMS China deal
pharmafile | March 22, 2013 | News story | Sales and Marketing | BMS, Merck KGaA, diabetes
Merck KGaA and Bristol-Myers Squibb are to co-promote the German firm’s veteran diabetes drug Glucophage in different formations in China.
Type II diabetes is a growing headache for public health authorities there, with more than 90 million people now suffering from the disease as changing diets and more sedentary lifestyles take their toll.
The (undisclosed) terms of a profit-sharing agreement should see greater uptake of Glucophage (metformin hydrochloride) with the brand being distributed more widely to hospitals in this vast country.
The drug has been marketed by BMS-SASS in China since 1999 and the firm will continue to manufacture Glucophage’s IR (immediate release) formulation.
The companies plan to launch the extended-release version Glucophage XR in China “in the near future”. But the two companies will now also provide diabetes-related health and medical information including education for doctors and nurses.
“The incidence of type II diabetes in China is growing at a tremendous rate,” said Belen Garijo, Merck Serono chief operating officer. “This new collaboration will help ensure that we continue to be a leading solution provider for these patients.”
Glucophage may be given to adults either as monotherapy or with oral antidiabetic agents or with insulin, and in children over ten years old either alone or with insulin.
The figure on Chinese sufferers comes from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), which suggests China now has the most people with diabetes of any country in the world.
It is estimated that more than 60% of Chinese patients remain undiagnosed, in part because of poor public awareness and limited opportunities for diagnosis.
“The combined promotion efforts of the two companies will help reach more patients in urban and rural communities who have had less access to treatment and who can benefit from metformin,” said Jean-Christophe Pointeau, president of BMS China.
According to the latest IDF data there were 366 million people worldwide with diabetes in 2011, leading to 4.6 million deaths.
Adam Hill
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