Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL)
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Biocon Ltd. (532523.BY) said Monday it has signed a pact with Mylan Inc. (MYL) to collaborate on developing, making and selling generic versions of biologic drugs for the global market.

The deal with the U.S.-based generic drugmaker is the latest in a series of similar pacts by Biocon, as it seeks to enter the highly regulated markets of U.S. and Europe by partnering with overseas companies to develop generic versions of biologic drugs.

Mylan Chairman Robert Coury said in a statement that the collaboration with the Indian biopharmaceutical maker will combine Biocon's scientific expertise and cost-efficiency in manufacturing biologic drugs with Mylan's global marketing footprint and expertise on regulatory issues.

Biologic, or biopharmaceutical, drugs are synthesized from living organisms for medical use. Biocon has a portfolio of biopharmaceutical drugs that include insulin, erythropoietin and monoclonal antibodies.

As part of the collaboration, Mylan and Biocon will share the development, capital and other costs of bringing the products to the market, Biocon said in the statement.

Mylan will have exclusive marketing rights in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and in the European Union and the European Free Trade Association countries through a profit-sharing agreement with Biocon.

Mylan will share marketing rights with Biocon in all other markets around the world. Biocon didn't provide any other financial terms or product details in its statement.

"Our partnership with Mylan is largely focused on complex biosimilar drugs, largely monoclonal antibodies," Arun Chandavarkar, Biocon's chief operating officer, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Monoclonal antibodies are used to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

He said the partnership can be expanded later to include more products.

Biocon Chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said Mylan will help the company accelerate its work in generic biologics and help it access regulated markets.

Biocon shares were trading 2.7% higher at INR232.75 on the Bombay Stock Exchange at 0905 GMT, outperforming the benchmark index, which was up 1.1%.

Biocon said as a maker of biosimilars - or generic versions of biopharmaceutical drugs - it stands to benefit because an estimated $25 billion worth of biopharmaceutical drugs are scheduled to lose patent protection by 2016.

In 2007, Biocon licensed to U.S.-based Abraxis BioScience Inc. (ABBI) the right to develop its generic version of G-CSF in the U.S. and the European Union. G-CSF, or granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, is a class of drugs used to help cancer patients maintain levels of infection-fighting white blood cells.

In the same year, the company signed a pact with another U.S.-based company, Invitrogen Corp. (IVGN), to market insulin to the global cell culture market.

-By Rumman Ahmed, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-9845104173; rumman.ahmed@dowjones.com