Glenmark wins innovation award

Glenmark wins innovation award

Watford, England, April 13, 2022: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has been awarded the Pharmacy Business Innovation in Generics Award for its capsule-based inhaler Tiogiva (tiotropium).

The company developed Tiogiva as a bioequivalent alternative to the original tiotropium inhaler Spiriva. It is indicated for maintenance bronchodilator treatment to relieve symptoms of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in adults.

The Pharmacy Business award recognises innovation in the generics market and in patient care. The citation stated, “Our winner is a capsule-based inhaler that helps to relieve the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and while the basic formula has been on the market for a while, this product was modified for long-lasting efficacy – making it better value for money without losing any of its effectiveness.” 

The Award was presented to General Manager of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals UK, Martin Imms on 23^rd March at the Pharmacy Business Awards held in the Westminster Bridge Park Plaza, London.

“Tiotropium was first introduced in Europe almost 20 years ago and the team at Glenmark has worked really hard to launch a new, bioequivalent product which takes the market forward and offers pharmacists, GPs and patients another option.

“Tiogiva was launched in May (2021), and since then has proved very popular and now accounts for a significant proportion of the market for open tiotropium scripts,” he said

“Having looked at the SmPC and data from Glenmark I had no concerns on the patient side, so all the branches were made aware of the new brand in early June,” said Alison Crompton, Superintendent Pharmacist for Peak Pharmacy.

“In our experience the patients have been very accepting and with the right support the transition works well. I’ve had no feedback, from neither our pharmacy teams nor our patients which is a good sign.”

Glenmark supported the Tiogiva launch with promotional and customer support programmes that included more than 2,500 pharmacy packs to help them switch patients, and a distinctive advertising campaign based on llamas.

“The innovative approach didn’t end with the product. We developed new ways of communicating the benefits of Tiogiva, including the call to dispense a LLAMA: a low-cost long acting muscarinic antagonist,” said Imms.

Tiogiva is now on the formulary of a number of primary care organisations that aim to reduce the cost to the NHS of managing COPD.

The Summary of Product Characteristics is available here: 
https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/12556

For further information visit Glenmarkpharma.co.uk.