New products crucial to growth
The Indian pharma industry's growth in 2003 will depend on drugmakers' ability to fill chemists' shelves with an array of new products, according to the latest report by AC Nielsen.
Of the 8.3% industry growth in 2002, 8.2% came from products launched over the previous two years, the report said, while products launched after 1996 account for 35% of industry turnover.
Volume growth of existing products launched more than two years ago appeared to be static, and competition in an industry dominated by local companies was almost entirely price-driven. However, some feel that the drive to launch new products could be counter-productive, as it may leave no time to manage existing products.
An earlier industry review stated that Indian companies' dependence on new products to drive growth was not a healthy sign, as the advent of a strict product patents regime in 2005 will eventually greatly restrict this ability.
The number of new products launched annually has increased steadily, from 695 in 1998 to 1,631 in 2002. Antibiotics had the greatest number of launches, followed by GIs, pain management and cardiology.
A fast-growing segment is diabetic treatments, and although launches were few they contributed 12% to sales in the segment. Sex stimulants saw the lowest number of launches at 31, but at 26% had the highest contribution to their segment.
Predictably the most aggressive companies in new product launches were all home-grown, including Ranbaxy, Cipla, Sun and Wockhardt.