J&J medical to launch insulin pumps in India by 2009 end

Johnson and Johnson Medical India, plans to introduce its ‘insulin pump’ for diabetes patients in the country by end of this year, a top company official said.

“We are planning to launch insulin pumps in India by this December,” Johnson and Johnson Medical India, Managing Director, A Vaidheesh, told PTI here.

Johnson and Johnson Medical is a division of healthcare major, Johnson and Johnson, and is a leading global manufacturer of medical devices.

The company will be initially launching 3,000 insulin pumps and then would up it to 4,000 units next year, Mr. Vaidheesh said.

Priced at between Rs 50,000-75,000 per pump, the device is designed and manufactured by its parent company Johnson and Johnson and would help regulate the insulin level in diabetic patients.

The device will be imported from the US, where the device is being manufactured and where it has proved efficient for users, Vaidheesh said.

The device to be attached to the patient’s body for 24-hours, helps monitor and regulate insulin levels while delivering the drug at a steady rate suited to an individual’s needs.

The pump also needs a catridge which is priced at Rs 50 and needs to be refilled every day.

The company is aggressively concentrating on diabetics control in India as there was an immense potential in this segment, Mr. Vaidheesh said.

The number of diabetics was growing in the country, he added, adding initially the company expected around 5 per cent of the total diabetic population in the country to use the company’s product.