Domestic pharma retail mkt grows 13% in July

Mumbai: Domestic pharma retail market posted a robust growth of nearly 13% in July indicating it may be back on track after facing GST blues last year. The growth came on the back of higher sales of anti-infectives, which rebounded after a dip in June, while respiratory, dermatology, and chronic therapies continued to clock strong numbers. July is the third month of consecutive growth after the slump witnessed in the market over the past year. The market, which had shown a degrowth of -2.4% in July last year, has been on a recovery path registering sales of 9% in June and nearly 11% in May.

The market clocked Rs 10,616 crore in July, buoyed by higher volumes (4.6%), price increase (5.2%) and new launches (3%), according to data from market research firm AIOCD Awacs. Overall, 17 therapies registered positive growth during the month, with chronic therapies being star performers — anti-diabetic, cardio and central nervous system up 18.5%, 15.5% and 14.2%, respectively. Sales of dermatology jumped 18%, while gastro-intestinal and vitamins gained nearly 11% and 13%, respectively, during the month.

Interestingly, price component has shown a positive impact due to the GST rollout in 2017 — which had resulted in certain changes in the pricing structure, while volumes have also risen, the data shows. The July quarter witnessed a volume growth of 6.6%, and price growth of 1.2%, while new products fared comparatively better at 2.8%.

Domestic companies registered a growth of 13.4%, while MNCs were lower at 10.2% for the month. Among the top 10 corporates, Lupin showed the highest growth in the domestic retail market at 19.6%, followed by Alkem (17.8%) and Torrent (17.3%). Among MNCs, Boehringer Ingelheim grew the fastest at 31.9%, followed by Bayer (31.7%) and Astra Zeneca (24%). Anti-diabetic therapy Mixtard by Abbott continued to lead the pack among the top brands, followed by Wockhardt’s painkiller Spasmo Proxyvon Plus, and diabetes medicine Glycomet GP (USV) at the third slot.

Anti-diabetic therapy dominated the pecking order with four of the top 10 brands, Galvus MET and Janumet being the other top grossers.