Lallemand Pharma enters partnership with Cipla to target the Indian respiratory market

Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Lallemand Pharma has entered into a partnership with Indian generics manufacturer Cipla for the marketing and distribution of PMBL tablets in India under the Pulmigen brand for the prevention of acute, sub-acute, recurrent or chronic infections of the upper and lower airways and the bronchopulmonary tree.

The alliance aims to promote a preventative approach in the respiratory area of the Indian healthcare market.

Maxence De Villemeur, Marketing Manager at Lallemand Pharma, said: ‘Cipla is well established in the respiratory segment. We are confident in Cipla’s capacity to introduce and promote new approaches in India such as prophylaxis, an approach that until now has been largely overlooked in the country. Cipla currently holds 70% of market share in the drugs used for the treatment of respiratory diseases. With this partnership, we are hoping to unlock the potential of preventative medicine for respiratory diseases in India.’

PMBL (Pulmigen) is a bacterial lysate obtained mechanically for optimal preservation of the antigens structures. It contains a blend of 13 inactivated bacterial strains of the most common pathogens involved in infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract. It acts by modulating both types of immune response (acquired and innate).

Acute respiratory infections and chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD represent major and growing healthcare burdens in India: altogether, the number of deaths from Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in India is greater than those from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined (Source: www.ariatlas.org), and the government has given ARI high priority in all of its adults and children health programmes.