Lupin signs a licencing agreement with the I'rom Group of Japan

On Thursday, the pharmaceutical company Lupin said that it had signed a licencing agreement for a medicine used in the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and other conditions with the Japan-based I'rom Group Co.

According to the terms of the contract, I'rom and the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company will jointly carry out clinical trials, register, distribute, and exclusively market the biosimilar Denosumab in Japan.

Among other applications, denosumab is prescribed for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who are at a high risk of fracture as well as the prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with bone metastases from solid tumours.

I'rom will offer the product in the island nation after the clinical trial is over and it receives marketing authorization in Japan, according to a statement from Lupin.

Multiple milestone payments would be made to the medication company as part of the arrangement, it was noted. Denosumab is currently sold in Japan under the trademarks Pralia and Ranmark, with a market value of roughly USD 500 million.

According to Lupin's managing director Nilesh Gupta, "biosimilars are a key growth engine for Lupin, and via products like this, we are making substantial progress in increasing availability and cost of critical therapies for patients."

Further explaining, Lupin President Biotechnology Cyrus Karkaria said osteoporosis is a prevalent illness linked to ageing and is frequently caused by oestrogen reduction in post-menopausal women.

"It may have serious clinical repercussions, including back discomfort and bone fractures, especially in the spine and hips. By advancing our denosumab biosimilar development programme, we seek to give patients early and expanded access to cutting-edge biologic therapies that have the potential to alter the course of their illness "Added he.

On the BSE, Lupin shares were down 1.2 percent, trading for Rs 669.50 each.