Biocon Biologics Ltd., a fully integrated ‘pure-play’ biosimilars company and a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd., in continuation of its Mission 10 cents affordable insulins program for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC), a faith-based organization active in Africa. CSSC works closely with the government as well as international and national partners to facilitate health and education services. Tanzania will be the first country in Africa that will benefit from this collaboration between Biocon Biologics and CSSC.

As a leading global insulins player, Biocon Biologics is helping unlock universal access to quality insulins in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by making recombinant human insulin (rh-insulin) available for less than 10 U.S. cents per day as a part of its ‘Mission 10 cents’ program. Besides improving access to insulin treatment by making affordable yet high-quality insulin available, Biocon Biologics is working with local partners to help strengthen overall healthcare capacity with the aim of supporting all people with diabetes in LMICs, where diabetes prevalence has been rising more rapidly than in high-income countries.

Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation. With an estimated 1 million diabetes patients, Tanzania is among the top 5 countries for the number of people with diabetes in Africa. An estimated 19.4 million adults aged 20-79 years were living with diabetes in the IDF Africa Region in 2019, representing a regional prevalence of ~4%. Africa is the region with the highest proportion of undiagnosed diabetes, with 60% of adults currently living with diabetes unaware of their condition.1 As per WHO, over 18% or nearly one in five, COVID-19 deaths in Africa were found to be among people with diabetes in an analysis of 14 African countries.