P.T. Jyothi Datta

Mumbai , March 8

DRUG company Lupin Ltd has discontinued its alliance with Allergan Inc for the US market.

As a result, Lupin will no longer market the children's version of Zymar, an Allergan drug used to treat conjunctivitis.

"The tie-up has been discontinued. It was for a limited time-frame of six months," Lupin's Chairman and Managing Director, Dr D.B. Gupta, told Business Line.

Lupin had inked the marketing alliance with Allergan last March in an effort to strengthen its foray into the US market. The alliance was between Lupin's wholly-owned subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Allergan.

According to an industry representative close to Lupin, the "tactical" alliance was to allow Lupin to piggyback on the Allergan brand name and break into the US paediatric market. Allergan took that time to build its network in the paediatric space in the same market.

When the Allergan deal was formalised last year, Lupin was poised to launch its own branded antibiotic brand, Suprax, in the US. And to promote this medicine, it was targeting paediatricians in the US.

To take a more sizeable basket of paediatric drugs to the doctors, Lupin further inked a deal with Allergan last year, to market the children's version of Allergan's drug Zymar. Allergan continued to market the adult version.

The paediatric segment is a focus area for Lupin, even as it intensifies efforts in the branded generic drugs segment in the US. The company expects the paediatric market in the US to be worth about $8 billion.

Last year, Lupin had licensed the Suprax trademark from Wyeth, which had been marketing the drug till March 2003. Lupin re-launched the drug under its label last April.

No financial details were available on the Allergan alliance. However, when the pact was inked last year, a top executive with Lupin had then said that he expected Suprax and Zymar to reflect "handsomely" on the company's performance.