Nepal

Eli Lilly's once-weekly diabetes therapy Trulicity (dulaglutide) appears to have made its Indian debut priced at a premium compared with certain Western markets –an indication that some innovator firms are less likely to consider major pricing flexibilities in first-wave markets for new products, even if these are emerging economies.

Eli Lilly & Co. appears to be on course to bringing its anticancer, Cyramza (ramucirumab), to India, after a key local expert panel recommended the product for marketing in two indications.

Innovator firms continue to tap into the marketing muscle of domestic companies as they vie for a bigger share of India's highly competitive dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor market.

Bangladesh's Beximco Pharmaceuticals may not be the first onto the local market with its cut-price version of Gilead's hepatitis C blockbuster Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), but the company appears to be pulling out all the stops to establish a stronghold in the market.

Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) and Eli Lilly are revamping the operational structure of their diabetes alliance in India – among the few markets where going solo is expected to improve efficiencies and launch focus in the segment.

Natco Pharma has received regulatory approval to launch generic sofosbuvir tablets 400mg in India –the first company to get such clearance in the country.

Asia is where the buzz around the first Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) generics is happening. First Gilead firmed up licensing deals with a clutch of Indian firms putting a lid on the pricing debate on the product in the region, at least temporarily.

More competition is set to arrive on the Indian insulin analog market. South Korea's LG Life Sciences is introducing its insulin glargine through Lupin on the Indian market.

Emcure Pharmaceuticals will market Sanofi's oncology portfolio in India as part of efforts by both partners to leverage the benefits of providing a comprehensive and complementary range of products in the segment.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals has acquired the branded domestic formulations business of the Indian firm, Elder Pharmaceuticals, for INR20bn ($323.5m), ending months of speculation of an imminent deal and apparently pipping fancier suitors, such as Sanofi, along the way.

Two of India's top 15 drug companies by market share - Emcure Pharmaceuticals and Intas Pharmaceuticals - have filed for initial public offerings amid some general concern that the pharmaceutical sector may no longer be a blind defensive play. But industry experts nevertheless believe that investor enthusiasm is unlikely to be dimmed for the proposed offerings, which are also expected to facilitate the part exits of leading private equity firms.

The World Trade Organization has granted the world's poorest countries a five-year stay of execution for applying WTO TRIPS Agreement intellectual property rules to pharmaceuticals. But the WTO's "half-hearted compromise" on a plea from least-developed countries to exempt them altogether is unsatisfactory because the exemption is still time bound, says Médecins Sans Frontières.