The Hindu Business Line : Diabetes segment may see price cut in drugs, insulin

And if the Ranbaxy experience is any indicator — the market place is likely to see competition drive prices still lower, for medicines and insulin, say pharma industry representatives.

"There has not been such a steep cut in medicine prices in the recent past, as was seen on Ranbaxy's brand of Glimiperide.

"Ranbaxy seeks to focus on the diabetes segment and hence the unprecedented cut. Such aggressive pricing may put pressure on other pharma companies in the diabetes segment to drop prices," observed analysts.

Demystifying the reason for the price cut, Ranbaxy spokesperson told Business Line that the "brand price for the molecule in reference was higher than that of other competitors. In order to drive the growth of this brand we have reduced the price to about 15-20 per cent premium over other brands. Our second taskforce is now focusing on exclusive product portfolio to key opinion leaders in the field of cardiology and diabetology. This brand is a part of this exclusive product portfolio."

Other companies in this segment include Aventis, Sun Pharma and USV, among others.

And companies that make the bulk ingredients that go into the final medicine include Aarti Drugs and Pearl Organics.

Analysts point out that the size of the oral anti-diabetes segment is about Rs 400 crore.

"Aggressive pricing would help Ranbaxy to get its foot-hold in the market, but it would be difficult to plot how much it would translate in sales terms as the market is dynamic," he added.

Besides oral diabetes medicines, more good news may be in the offing in the insulin category too, point out analysts.

The reason being Biocon's "competitively priced" human insulin, slated to hit the market in the first half of this year. "This could trigger another southward revision of prices," they observe.

Only early last year, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk had slashed prices by about 33 per cent on human insulin and prices now range at Rs 145 for a 10 ml vial.

Industry representatives point out that Aventis is a major player in Glimiperide, while companies such as Sun Pharma are marginal players. And while on the face of it company officials say that no more price-cuts are planned, they do add: "It would depend on how the competitive situation pans out."

More Stories on : Health | Pharmaceuticals

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Forex reserves rise $402 m on dollar mop-up

Diabetes segment may see price cut in drugs, insulin

Online fund transfer system comes into being

Foreigners hold 30 pc shares in Nifty cos

Where fixed deposits give higher rates

Gelli likely to take part in GTB rights issue