NEW DELHI: The first quarter (January-March) of this year has witnessed a change in the domestic pharma retail market with antibiotics and anti-bacterial drugs dominating the show in top 10 brands.
At least four major antibiotic and antibacterial drugs are figuring in the top pharma brands during the quarter for perhaps the first time. These include Augmentin (manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline), Mox (Ranbaxy), Zifi (FDC Ltd) and Taxim (Alkem).
Augmentin is ranked four with cumulative sales of Rs 27.4 crore, Mox is the fifth largest drug with cumulative sales of Rs 26.6 crore, followed by Zifi at number seven position (Rs 23.6 crore). Taxim — another antibiotic medicine, is the ninth largest, netting sales of Rs 22 crore in January-March quarter.
All these drugs have also shown a huge double-digit growth, with anti-bacterial medicine Zifi growing by nearly 40% during the quarter (37% in March alone) and Mox netting 30% growth. Even in March, the rankings are pretty similar to the quarter, with Augmentin the fourth largest drug, followed by Zifi, Mox and Taxim at number 9 slot.
Doctors attribute the growth in sales of these drugs to the fact that these antibiotics are used to treat a wide variety of infections, and do not have many side-effects. Last year (January-December 2007), Taxim was the fifth largest drug followed by Augmentin.
During the first quarter of 2008, cough and cold medicine Corex was the number one brand with sales of Rs 36.65 crore, followed by painkiller Voveran. During March alone Voveran had marginally higher sales of Rs 10.54 crore as against Corex, which registered sales of Rs 10.49 crore.
Interestingly, the growth of the industry is mainly driven by the chronic segment (like cardio-vasculars, diabetics, central nervous system), which have grown by 17-18% last year. Against this backdrop, offtake of acute segments (anti-infectives, gastro-intestinals, nutritionals) has been slow and grown by 10-15% only, industry experts said.
The domestic pharma market with a size of Rs 35,000 crore is largely fragmented, with many small players. Biggies such as Cipla and Ranbaxy are battling for market shares. For some time now, Cipla has been leading the pack with a market share of 5.64% (during the quarter), followed by Ranbaxy and GSK.
Source:TNN
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Pharma industry untouched by recession
The global recession has affected all sectors, expect for the pharmaceutical industry. This leaves a wide choice for the pharmacy students.
This was the opinion of all the heads from the four premier pharmacy associations -- IPA, IHPA, IPGA and AIDCOC -- at a symposium on pharmacy studies held recently at GITAM Institute of Pharmacy.
If this is the scenario, then the young minds who take up pharmacy as study need no longer look at the discipline as fallback option in the event of not securing a seat in medicine or engineering.
Big picture
After a modest beginning, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is today the fourth biggest industry in the world as far as volume or production is concerned and 14th in terms of value. The Indian industry is USD 8.4 billion worth at present. According to the Chairman of Indian Pharmaceutical Association T.V. Narayana the patent regime has brought business worth USD 5 billion and has also triggered the growth of the pharma industry as innovative industry. The patented drugs have recorded a growth of over 37 per cent in the last couple of years.
He says that by 2012, USD 80 billion worth of patent protected drugs in the US would go off patent. The Indian companies are in a position to tap this generic market with reverse engineering skills and low cost factor. The present share of USD 8.4 billion would rise to USD 60 billion by 2020, and this would give fresh opportunity to about five lakh pharmacy professionals.
Prof. Narayana also informed that the much-neglected research and development and DDD (drug, discovery development) sector is also being suitably addressed. “The government has sanctioned about Rs. 150 crore under the Department of Science and Technology for research. The research and DDD segment itself would need about 2 lakh professionals,” he said.
Why India?
Many factors contribute to the growth of the pharmacy sector in India. The factors that mainly contribute are: Vast technical pool and skilled manpower, low cost factor, availability of state-of-the-art facility, vast pool of English speaking manpower, reverse brain drain and vast network of export bases in South America, Africa, Europe and China. India also has the highest number of USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approved plants.
Pharmacy study
The pharmacy study in India can be broadly classified into two-year diploma, four-year degree in pharmacy (B. Pharm), two-year post-graduate degree in pharmacy and Pharm D.
While the diploma focuses on hospital and community pharmacy, the degree and PG courses focus on pharmaceutical industry, enforcement agencies and teaching prospects. These apart, the Ph.D programme is always open to the students with research bent of mind.
The Pharm D is the new concept that has been introduced lately. This is a six-year integrated course and students can join after plus two. The syllabus for this course has designed by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and is in tune with the international curriculum. Students can join MS programmes in foreign countries after completing this course.
The PCI has also decided to revamp the syllabus for the diploma, degree and PG programmes to suit the industry requirement. Prof. Narayana however, advises the students to take up three-month certificate courses offered by a few pharmaceutical companies to gain experience and gear up for the industry requirement.
He also suggests that students should join pharmacy colleges that are recognised by PCI and are rated by the National Board of Accreditation.
Options
The options for pharmacy students are wide and are well spread within the industry itself. After passing out the students can join any pharmaceutical industry, regulatory and enforcement bodies, community pharmacy, teaching, hospital and clinical pharmacy and research and development sector.
Within the pharmaceutical industry the options could vary from manufacturing to quality control and from regulatory to research and development. “The Medical Council of India has now made it mandatory that all hospitals attached to medical colleges should have a clinical pharmacy department. This regulation would also add up to the job opportunities,” said Prof. Narayana.
Source: The Hindu
This was the opinion of all the heads from the four premier pharmacy associations -- IPA, IHPA, IPGA and AIDCOC -- at a symposium on pharmacy studies held recently at GITAM Institute of Pharmacy.
If this is the scenario, then the young minds who take up pharmacy as study need no longer look at the discipline as fallback option in the event of not securing a seat in medicine or engineering.
Big picture
After a modest beginning, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is today the fourth biggest industry in the world as far as volume or production is concerned and 14th in terms of value. The Indian industry is USD 8.4 billion worth at present. According to the Chairman of Indian Pharmaceutical Association T.V. Narayana the patent regime has brought business worth USD 5 billion and has also triggered the growth of the pharma industry as innovative industry. The patented drugs have recorded a growth of over 37 per cent in the last couple of years.
He says that by 2012, USD 80 billion worth of patent protected drugs in the US would go off patent. The Indian companies are in a position to tap this generic market with reverse engineering skills and low cost factor. The present share of USD 8.4 billion would rise to USD 60 billion by 2020, and this would give fresh opportunity to about five lakh pharmacy professionals.
Prof. Narayana also informed that the much-neglected research and development and DDD (drug, discovery development) sector is also being suitably addressed. “The government has sanctioned about Rs. 150 crore under the Department of Science and Technology for research. The research and DDD segment itself would need about 2 lakh professionals,” he said.
Why India?
Many factors contribute to the growth of the pharmacy sector in India. The factors that mainly contribute are: Vast technical pool and skilled manpower, low cost factor, availability of state-of-the-art facility, vast pool of English speaking manpower, reverse brain drain and vast network of export bases in South America, Africa, Europe and China. India also has the highest number of USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approved plants.
Pharmacy study
The pharmacy study in India can be broadly classified into two-year diploma, four-year degree in pharmacy (B. Pharm), two-year post-graduate degree in pharmacy and Pharm D.
While the diploma focuses on hospital and community pharmacy, the degree and PG courses focus on pharmaceutical industry, enforcement agencies and teaching prospects. These apart, the Ph.D programme is always open to the students with research bent of mind.
The Pharm D is the new concept that has been introduced lately. This is a six-year integrated course and students can join after plus two. The syllabus for this course has designed by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and is in tune with the international curriculum. Students can join MS programmes in foreign countries after completing this course.
The PCI has also decided to revamp the syllabus for the diploma, degree and PG programmes to suit the industry requirement. Prof. Narayana however, advises the students to take up three-month certificate courses offered by a few pharmaceutical companies to gain experience and gear up for the industry requirement.
He also suggests that students should join pharmacy colleges that are recognised by PCI and are rated by the National Board of Accreditation.
Options
The options for pharmacy students are wide and are well spread within the industry itself. After passing out the students can join any pharmaceutical industry, regulatory and enforcement bodies, community pharmacy, teaching, hospital and clinical pharmacy and research and development sector.
Within the pharmaceutical industry the options could vary from manufacturing to quality control and from regulatory to research and development. “The Medical Council of India has now made it mandatory that all hospitals attached to medical colleges should have a clinical pharmacy department. This regulation would also add up to the job opportunities,” said Prof. Narayana.
Source: The Hindu
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
