Under the arrangement, Wockhardt will market the product under the brand name `Ascrose' through its sales force and extensive distribution network. Bayer Pharmaceuticals, which is currently marketing Acarbose in India under the brand name Glucobay for the last three years, will continue marketing under the existing brand. Bayer Pharmaceuticals is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bayer AG.

Wockhardt chairman and managing director Habil F Khorakiwala said that the drug would be marketed from April 1, 2001 and is expected to clock a turnover of around Rs 22 crore in an year's time. As per the ORG survey, Glucobay is a Rs 13.3 crore product, growing at a compounded annual rate of 115 per cent in the last three years. Glucobay is listed in the top 120 products marketed in the country and has a market share of close to six per cent in the oral anti-diabetic market.

With the tie-up, the market share of Glucobay and Ascrose is expected to be over 10 per cent in the oral-diabetic market, a Bayer release said. Global turnover of Acarbose is around $300 million while the oral anti-diabetic market in India is pegged at Rs 250 crore. The market is said to be growing at over 36 per cent. In addition to Ascrose, Wockhardt plans to introduce three more anti-diabetic drugs next year, Mr Khorakiwala said. Bayer officials said that it was utilising only 60 per cent of its capacity and by this tie-up, it would be able to increase capacity utilisation by another 20 per cent. "The agreement would be valid for 10 years and we are in talks with Wockhardt to identify from a basket of products to market abroad," officials said.