Biocon in talks with Bristol-Myers, Sanofi

The transaction, which could be valued at close to $1bn by potential suitors, includes a combination of upfront payments, milestone-linked payments and royalties on sales of the drug, economictimes.indiatimes.com reported.

The newspaper has quoted a person familiar with the talks as saying that given the aggressive valuation that the company is seeking for its oral insulin product, upfront fees for selling exclusive marketing rights to a potential partner could be as high as $200m.

Last year, Biocon had entered into a strategic global agreement with Pfizer for the worldwide commercialization of the company’s biosimilar versions of insulin and insulin analog products – Recombinant Human Insulin, Glargine, Aspart and Lispro in developed markets such as the US and European Union.

As per the terms of the agreement, Biocon received upfront payments totaling $200m.

Biocon is also eligible to receive additional development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $150m and will receive additional payments linked to Pfizer’s sales of its four insulin biosimilar products across global markets.

Indian pharma firms such as Aurobindo Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s Labs and Glenmark have struck similar alliances for their drugs with international pharma companies over the past few years.

Biocon has already partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb for its contract manufacturing arm Syngene.