Biocon chief vows near-term pact on oral insulin

The high-profile CEO of India's Biocon says that she's closing in on a big-name pharma partner for the company's oral insulin program.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told Reuters that "we are in advanced discussions with potential partners" and expects to have a deal by the end of the first quarter of 2012. Mazumdar-Shaw believes that the oral insulin program remains one of Biocon's most promising potential blockbusters, despite a late-stage failure for IN-105 in Type 2 diabetes patients earlier this year.

Biocon, India's biggest biotech, is developing biosimilars with Pfizer and has captured 10% of the subcontinent's insulin market.

- here's the story from Reuters