KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): Pharmaceutical products maker Duopharma Biotech Bhd said its wholly-owned subsidiary Duopharma Marketing Sdn Bhd (DMktg) and India's Biocon Ltd's local unit Biocon Sdn Bhd have accepted a revised letter of award (LOA) from the Ministry of Health (MoH) to supply Insugen, a recombinant human insulin product developed by Biocon for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, under the ministry's procurement by way of direct negotiation.

Under the revised LOA, the contract is for a period of three years commencing from April 29, 2022 until April 28, 2025, with a total value of RM375.17 million. The previous LOA was for a period commencing from Dec 17, 2021 until Dec 16, 2024.

In a bourse filing on Monday (April 25), Duopharma Biotech said DMktg and Biocon have acknowledged receipt and acceptance of the revised LOA and submitted the same to MoH. A binding contract will be created between the government, DMktg and Biocon.

On Dec 17, 2021, Duopharma announced that the government had accepted the tender offer from DMktg to supply the insulin product.

Duopharma said the revised LOA will allow DMktg to provide distribution services for the supply of Biocon's human insulin formulation to all MoH's hospitals, district health offices and health clinics.

"With an estimated 3.9 million diabetics in Malaysia, of which about 420,000 patients are treated using human insulin in government hospitals and clinics, DMktg and Biocon hope to improve diabetes management in the country by providing high quality and cost-effective biosimilar insulins," it added.

The contract is expected to contribute positively to the future earnings and EPS of Duopharma Biotech Group for the financial years ending Dec 31, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Duopharma shares closed up one sen or 0.64% to RM1.58 on Monday, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM1.49 billion.