Domestic pharma sales improve in October

After a lull in September, secondary pharma sales growth (at the dealer level) rebounded in October. According to data compiled by market research firm AIOCD AWACS, secondary sales of drugs grew 18.4 per cent in October, compared to 12 per cent in September. Sales for the twelve-month period ended October stood at 16.9 per cent.

Extended malaria and flu incidence aided the strong growth.

Drugs in the anti-infective and anti-malarial therapy segments grew at a healthy 23.3 per cent and 22.3 per cent. Anti-diabetes drugs continued to witness robust demand - 22.6 per cent higher than in October last year.

In contrast, drugs in the pain management and neurology segments grew slower than the market at 10 per cent and 15.4 per cent, respectively.

Interestingly, Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy’s made a strong comeback in October after struggling with a lower single-digit growth in September. Ranbaxy’s sales jumped 21.5 per cent compared to October last year, while Dr Reddy’s sales rose 19.7 per cent.

The companies that outperformed industry in the listed space include JB Chemicals (29.7 per cent), Sun Pharma (24 per cent), Glenmark (22.3 per cent), Lupin (21.9 per cent) and IPCA Labs (19.4 per cent).

Multinationals such as Abbott (10.4 per cent), Sanofi Aventis (11.3 per cent), Pfizer (13.6 per cent), GlaxoSmithkline (17.1 per cent) continued to lag. Other laggards among the listed companies include Wockhardt (8.2 per cent), Unichem (12.5 per cent) and Alembic (12.5 per cent). Though Cipla grew slower than the market at 14.8 per cent, it managed to better its September growth of 10.3 per cent.

Ranbaxy, Zydus Cadila and Cipla were the key market share gainers for the month, garnering additional 0.22 per cent, 0.15 per cent and 0.13 per cent share, respectively.

nalinakanthi.v@thehindu.co.in

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