According to reports in Polish newspapers, Bayer and the Polish company Bioton are considering working together to sell insulin in China. Experts project that the insulin market in China will be worth $1 billion by 2010, and it's growing at a rate of 25 percent to 30 percent per year.
Bioton's insulin is registered in China already, the news outlet Puls Biznesu reports. And its Polish factory has the capacity to take on a big push eastward. Meanwhile, Bayer has an extensive drug distribution network in China, which Bioton does not.
Confirming Bayer's interest in a collaboration, Bioton President Janusz Guy cautioned that the talks are in an early stage, and that the Polish company is having similar discussions with other pharma firms. "We looked at many companies; Bayer is one of them," Guy told Bankier. "This information is confidential; I cannot say anything more. This could affect our discussions with other pharmaceutical concerns." Bayer wouldn't comment.
- read the translated story in Puls Biznesu
- get more from another translated article from Bankier, a Polish financial news portal