Even as the domestic pharma market grows at a slow pace due to lower fresh prescription generation, the Covid-19 drug portfolio of major players here has seen a sharp rise.
Take for instance, the new rage favipiravir, an oral antiviral from Japan first launched by Glenmark in India under its brand Fabiflu. Within a month or so, around a dozen brands have crowded the market. Data from market research firm AIOCD AWACS shows that FabiFlu sales have grown by 62 per cent in July. It was launched in June. This drug is being used by doctors for mild to moderate Covid patients even if they are in home isolation. Since it is an oral drug, it does not need hospitalisation.
Hyderabad's Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) is all set to bring in the innovator brand of favipiravir--Avigan--as part of a tie-up with Japan's Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co and Global Response Aid (GRA). A launch is expected this month. The company admitted its India revenues have been hit during the first quarter due to lower prescription generation and sluggish growth in the acquired Wockhardt portfolio. It is bullish on its Covid-19 portfolio, nonetheless.
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DRL has already launched nutraceutical products and hand sanitisers during the pandemic. Drugs such as azithromycin (common antibiotic used in Covid) have also seen traction, it said. DRL's India business fell 10 per cent year on year in the first quarter.
Erez Israeli, Chief Executive Officer, DRL, felt these products are launched with a longer horizon in mind, not just targeted for the pandemic. Israeli, however, also felt the Covid-19 health crisis was here to stay for at least another year or so, which meant Covid targeted products would continue to do well. "Unless a vaccine surprises us, the pandemic is here to stay at least for a year or so. Our data on favipiravir is showing it is a good product," Israeli said.
COVID Drugs show growth versus other therapy areas.
Ahmedabad's Cadila Healthcare too is on the frontline for Covid-related products--from Elisa testing kits to sanitisers to immunity-boosting medicines, the company has it all. It has launched the cheapest brand of injectable drug remdesivir--Rs 2,800 a dose and also sells hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), which India uses as prophylactic against the Sars-CoV-2 virus. Zydus and Ipca are the leading players who make HCQ and had supplied 100 million tablets to the government around April.
Drug majors like Cipla say that Covid drugs are not sold at high margins. "We do not make money from these drugs. There is angle of public health here. Whatever little money we made we have diverted them through donating PPE kits etc," said Kedar Upadhye, global CFO of Cipla. Cipla too has an entire portfolio of Covid drugs including tocilizumab, a drug that it sells here as a part of an agreement with the innovator Roche. Upadhye said that Cipla comes on the top in terms of drugs that it has in its kitty - from HCQ, azithromycin, Zinc, remdesivir, tocilizumab and even favipiravir apart from consumer products like sanitisers.
Indian companies have tied up with US giant Gilead for injectable drug remdesivir which reduces hospital stay and aids in faster recovery of Covid patients. Hetero, Jubilant, Zydus, Cipla, Mylan have all launched the drug here. DRL is all set to launch. Since it is not sold through the commercial retail channel, no data on the actual sales of the drug is available. However, the size of the market can be gauged from the fact that drug majors committed supplying over 800,000 vials of remdesivir in August.
Source: AIOCD AWACS