Aventis unveils insulin medication

Aventis Pharma on Tuesday introduced its top brand --Lantus (insulin glargine), a blockbuster long lasting insulin drug, in India.

Lantus is the world's first and the only once a day 24-hour basal insulin.

The company also plans to launch Actonel-- an osteoporosis drug in India from its parent's pipeline in the next two months.

The launch of Aventis' top global brands in India reflects the parent company's faith in India, analysts said. India is a potential market for Aventis, particularly for the diabetic category.

This is in view of the fact that India has the largest diabetic population in the world with 37 million people and the number, according to the company, is expected to increase to 57.2 million by 2025.

The company, which is the second-largest multinational drug-maker in India, expects to garner a major chunk of the Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) domestic diabetes drug market within a short span as Lantus is a unique drug in its category.

The product would be imported from the parent's unit in Germany. Lantus is available in 10 ml vial for an introductory price of Rs 2,499 in India.

The average cost of drug acquisition per day is around Rs 25-30.

Sandeep Bhattacharya, director commercial operations of Aventis Pharma said, "Lantus will change the way diabetes is treated making diabetes management safer and simpler. It has the potential to thereby reducing the threat of complications arising out of uncontrolled diabetes. The idea is to improve the quality of the people living with diabetes with the once daily treatment of Lantus."

According to the company, Lantus is a unique peakless insulin that mimics the body's natural release patterns.

Its profile improves glycemic control by reducing the risk of hypoglycemia and diabetes led other complications compared with the current available therapies using intermediate or long acting insulin.