Mylan, Biocon help market generic insulin drugs

PITTSBURGH -- Mylan Inc. said Wednesday it will help market generic versions of some of the biggest-selling insulin drugs in the world under a new agreement with Biocon Ltd., India's largest biotechnology company by revenue.

The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.

Mylan said it will have the right to develop Biocon's generic version of Sanofi's drug Lantus, Eli Lilly and Co.'s Humalog, and Novo Nordisk AG's NovoLog. Mylan said combined worldwide sales of Lantus, Humalog and NovoLog totaled about $11.5 billion in 2012.

Mylan and Biocon will share some of the costs involved in developing the generics, and Mylan will have the exclusive rights to sell them in the U.S., the European Union and European Free Trade Association, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The companies will share profits on those sales. Mylan will have the right to work with Biocon to sell the drugs in some other markets.

Mylan shares rose 6 cents to $28.86 during regular trading, then fell a penny to $28.85 in after-hours trading.

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Mylan recalls painkiller pills made by Qualitest

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Generic drug maker Mylan Inc said on Thursday it is recalling three lots of hydrocone bitartrate, the generic name for Vicodin, and acetaminophen tablets because of concerns that a small number of tablets were too large and therefore too strong.

The drugs were made for Mylan by Qualitest, a unit of Endo Health Solutions Inc, which recalled 101 lots of the pills earlier this month on concerns over the oversized drugs.

The increased acetaminophen content could cause damage to the liver, particularly if the patient is already taking acetaminophen, has liver dysfunction, or consumes more than 3 alcoholic beverages a day, the Food and Drug Administration said on Dec. 6 when Qualitest started the recall.

The recall affects only pills labeled as having 10 milligrams of hydrocodone bitartrate and 500 milligrams of acetaminophen, the generic ingredient in Tylenol.

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