Wockhardt develops advanced insulin

Pharma major Wockhardt said on Thursday that it had achieved a breakthrough in the development of Glargine, a new generation advanced insulin, and expressed confidence that its exports would touch the Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) mark by 2006.

"We will initiate phase III clinical trials with Glargine and expect to introduce the drug in India in the next 18 months," Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala said at a press conference Aurangabad, ahead of the inauguration of the company's biotech park by President A P J Abdul Kalam.

Biotechnology was a key component of the global strategy of the Rs 1300 crore (Rs 13 billion) company, he said. "We are targeting a 100-fold increase in biotech exports to Rs 100 crore by 2006."

The exports would mainly come from Wockhardt's three key drugs, Wepox (erythropoietin), Wosulin (recombinant insulin) and Biovac B (Hepatitis B vaccine), he said.

He said Wockhardt had already received approvals from regulatory agencies of 10 countries in South-East Asia, Central Asia, South America and Africa and expected many more approvals in the next 12-18 months.

"These markets offer huge opportunities," the chairman said.