With double-digit growth, Indian drugmakers beat MNCs in May

The Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) grew 10% in May notching Rs 8,138 crore in sales, with anti-infectives continuing to be a leading therapeutic area along with cardiac and gastrointestinal segments.

According to the market reflection report for May 2015 of IMS Health, which provides information, services and technology for the healthcare industry, the IPM was valued at Rs 93,137 crore, with a growth of 13% for moving annual total (MAT) in May.

Anti-infectives remained the leading therapeutic category, accounting for 36% of IPM along with cardiac and gastrointestinal.

In another report by pharma market research firm AIOCD AWACS, May also witnessed an addition of Rs 763 crore over the corresponding month last year, which is the highest incremental value for the month in last three years. As per its report, the market grew 11% to Rs 7,717 crore in May 2015.

The top 10 companies contributed 43% of market share on MAT and monthly basis. Mankind (18%), Alkem (11%) and Sun (11%) reported significant growth during the month. Compared with 10.2% growth for multinationals (MNCs), Indian companies reported 11.2% for the month. However, according to the IMS report, Indian companies grew 10.5% over May 2014. MNCs grew 7.5% as against the market growth 9.8% during the month. Local drugmakers constituted 77% of the pharma market during the month.

IMS Health, in its report, also said chronic therapies registered growth of 11.2%, higher than the that of acute therapies last month. AIOCD AWACS report said that eight therapies exceeded the market growth. Respiratory segment grew 11.9%, gastrointestinal market grew 14.2%, pain and analgesics 8.5% whereas anti-infectives grew 5.5%. The anti-diabetes market grew 20.7%, cardiac at 10.7% in chronic business, derma 20% and urology market 23%.

The IMS market research report said the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) impacted drugs constituted 14% of the market in value terms, with a growth of 4.4% over same period last year, while volume growth was a regressive -2%. The share of the non-NLEM drugs was 86% of the market in value terms for May.

Shivkumar Utture, executive committee member, Maharashtra Medical Council, said the reason behind anti-infectives being one of the leading therapy area is due to lack of an antibiotic policy in India. "Unlike western countries, where they have a protocol on antibiotics, we have none. What we do is to try to implement the western policy, but the antibiotic sensitivity for any disease is very different in India than the western countries. The resistance level in India is pretty high, a reason being constant misuse and abuse of antibiotics."

Utture said in India there is a tendency among some doctors to just prescribe an antibiotic even to person with a normal cough and cold problem. "Outside cities, it is very difficult to get an investigation done. Also, that is expensive. So instead of burning the pockets of the patients, some doctors just prescribe antibiotics, in some cases anti-malarial. But if a specific antibiotic is not taken in its specific dosage, there is a chance of resistance bacteria going up. Then a person becomes resistant to that medicine and has to move to more expensive ones, he said.

"Besides, the chemists are supposed to keep copies of prescription prescribing antibiotics which is also not done. All these practices need to change if we want to be at par with the western countries," he added.