AstraZeneca Pharma India, Mankind Pharma collaborate to distribute asthma medicine Symbicort in India

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 puƫng patients first while ensuring value.”

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