On June 8, at the Eurasia – Our Home exhibition, GEROPHARM and Karaganda Pharmaceutical Plant signed a long-term contract to localize the production of insulin glargine, an insulin analogue at a concentration of 300 IU/mL, in Kazakhstan.
Under this contract, the Russian company is going to transfer the insulin production technology while the Kazakh company undertakes to invest in the modern equipment for its production site.
Karaganda Pharmaceutical Plant will be in charge of bottling and packaging of the insulin substance supplied from GEROPHARM’s manufacturing facility in Saint Petersburg. The first commercial release is scheduled for the end of 2024.
The contract was signed in the presence of Denis Manturov, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, and Dinara Shcheglova, the Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Today, there are about 480,000 registered patients with diabetes mellitus in Kazakhstan. Many of them require daily injections of insulin, including insulin glargine, at a concentration of 300 IU/mL. The estimated annual demand for this insulin in Kazakhstan is about 120,000 packages.
Petr Rodionov, General Director of GEROPHARM, noted, “The ever-growing cooperation with Kazakhstan and the introduction of a new medicinal product on this market build trust in the quality of our insulins. We have already obtained a marketing authorisation for glargine at a dosage of 300 IU/mL in accordance with the EAEU procedure. Unfortunately, we cannot produce this medicinal product in Russia due to “evergreening” that actually helps foreign pharmaceuticals monopolize this segment of our market — even despite several years of our efforts to overcome this unfair patent. But there is no such patent in Kazakhstan, so the medicinal product can be made available to patients. And the contract we have signed is intended to address their needs for this insulin.”
In 2020, GEROPHARM localized the production of 100 IU/mL insulin glargine at Karaganda Pharmaceutical Plant. Transferring the technology for the production of insulin at a higher concentration will allow patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes use higher doses of insulin and administer fewer injections.
Localized insulin will be promoted in Kazakhstan under GEROPHARM’s trade name: RingGlar ® 300.
“Karaganda Pharmaceutical Plant is the first manufacturer in Kazakhstan that produces advanced biotechnological medicinal products against cancer, hemophilia, endocrinologic or orphan diseases. We are partnering with leading biotechnological companies. And this is our second collaboration with GEROPHARM. 100 IU/mL insulin glargine introduced to the Kazakhstan market in 2020 has proven its effectiveness and safety over the past years. Today we are going to take the next step in the development of our pharmaceutical industry. Our key goal is to provide patients with affordable, effective and safe medicinal products against socially significant diseases. At the same time, our medicinal products are supplied to the Unified Distributor at lower prices compared to foreign competitors, thereby allowing the Ministry of Health to save budget funds each year while also providing patients with an access to expensive therapy,” said Sergey Baron, General Director of Karaganda Pharmaceutical Plant.
