AstraZeneca and Mankind Pharma Agreement

Bangalore: AstraZeneca Pharma India Limited and Mankind Pharma Limited have entered into an agreement for exclusive distribution of AstraZeneca’s budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate (inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) combination) brand Symbicort in India.

AstraZeneca will retain the intellectual property rights to budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate and will continue to be the Marketing Authorisation Holder (MAH) and import license.

India is contributing 13% to the global asthma burden and a disproportionate 43% of the global asthma deaths. It highlights a clear scope of improving the way asthma is managed in the country.

"Our aspiration is to be pioneers in science and lead in specialist disease areas. We are focused on transforming outcomes for patients and contributing sustainably to people, society and the planet. The partnership with Mankind Pharma presents an opportunity to accelerate access and maximize the potential of our asthma drug as well as the turbuhaler which is a simple device, efficient in consistently delivering a higher proportion of respirable particles than the other devices. As much as we are excited to bring innovative medicine to India fast, we are equally invested on improving access strategically in the country," said Dr. Sanjeev Panchal, Managing Director and Country President of AstraZeneca India.

Commenting on the agreement with AstraZeneca India, Mr Atish Majumdar, Sr. President – Sales & Marketing, Mankind Pharma Limited said, “Mankind has always been steadfast in providing access to quality treatments to the deserving patients across the nation. In this regard, we are excited to partner with AstraZeneca to make their innovative therapy flagship brand Symbicort, a global standard in treating Asthma. Symbicort's dual mechanism of action and ease of use in a single inhaler can greatly help patients manage these conditions and improve their quality of life. Through our field forces’ extensive outreach, we hope to strengthen access across urban and rural markets. With our shared goal to enable better patient outcomes, I see this collaboration as strategic in more ways than one. We believe such credible partnerships that widen availability of globally established medicines in India exemplify our ethos of putting patients first while ensuring value.”

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About AstraZeneca India

AstraZeneca India was established in 1979 and is headquartered at Bengaluru, Karnataka. AstraZeneca Pharma India Limited (AZPIL) is the operating company and covers manufacturing, sales and marketing activities of the company in India. It is a listed company and is a subsidiary of AstraZeneca Plc, UK.

About Mankind Pharma

Mankind Pharma is an Indian pharmaceutical and healthcare products company, headquartered in Delhi. The Company is present in the domestic pharmaceuticals business across acute and chronic therapeutic areas, including anti-infectives, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, antidiabetic, neuro/CNS, VMN and respiratory, among others, with a strategy to increase chronic presence going ahead. In the consumer healthcare business, the company operates in the condoms, pregnancy detection, emergency contraceptives, antacid powders, vitamin and mineral supplements and anti-acne preparations categories, among others, with several category-leading brands. The company has 28 manufacturing facilities in India manufacturing a wide range of dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, syrups, vials, ampoules, blow fill seal, soft and hard gels, eye drops, creams, contraceptives and other over-the-counter products.

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