Lupin in deal to market Novartis' Onbrez in India, local newspaper reports

Indian drugmaker Lupin Pharmaceuticals (LOPN: BO) and Swiss major Novartis (NOVN: VX) have entered into a marketing alliance under which Lupin would sell Novartis’ asthma drug, Onbrez (indacaterol), indicated for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in India, according to the local newspaper Business Standard, quoting an unnamed  industry source.

Under the terms of the deal, Novartis would share a part of its revenue from the sales of the drug with Lupin, the industry source said. Last week, Lupin despatched the first lot of Onbrez, which generated sales of $103 million for Novartis last year.

According to the Business Standard, the market for COPD in India is estimated to be around 16.93 billion rupees (about $300 million). While Cipla is the leader in the segment with over 48%share, Lupin itself sells various products like Budamate and Telekast and has an 11.4% share of COPD market.