Indian Pharma Market Reports Double-Digit Growth In February
Industry sales rose 20.3% year-on-year in February, against a 0.2% year-on-year decline in February 2022, according to the AIOCD.
India's pharmaceutical market bounced back to register its strongest-ever double-digit growth in fiscal 2023, after the January lows—albeit on a low base.
Industry sales rose 20.3% year-on-year in February against a 0.2% year-on-year decline in February 2022, and 2.3% growth in January this year, according to data from the All Indian Origin Chemists and Distributors.
“The Indian pharmaceuticals market delivered strong growth in February 2023, on account of lower base in February 2022 and robust double-digit growth in most top therapies. Overall, top 10 therapies contributed 86.5% of the pharma market revenue," said Krishnanath Munde, associate director at India Ratings.
"Volume has been the key growth driver of the overall market performance in February 2023," Munde said.
Key Highlights
Volume growth stood at 11.5% versus a 7.3% decline last year.
Prices increased by 6% year-on-year, as compared with 5.1% last year.
New product launches registered growth of 2.8%, compared to 2% in the previous year.
Munde highlighted that despite the Indian pharma market's higher growth of 14.9% in calendar year 2021, it grew just 8% last year.
India Ratings expect Indian pharma market growth for FY23 to be at 10%. "Post that, we expect a 10-11% year-on-year growth over the next couple of years," Munde said.
Therapy-Wise Growth
According to data from the AIOCD:
Sales of respiratory segment rose the most—54% over last February—followed by anti-infectives segment, which reported a jump of 35% year-on-year.
Pain segment reported a growth a 21%, while gastroenterology and dermatological segments grew around 16% year-on-year.
Vitamins, gynaecological products and cardiac therapy sales rose 15%, 14% and 13%, respectively.
Neurological/CNS segment grew around 11% year-on-year, while the anti-diabetic segment reported single-digit growth of 8%.
MAT Performance
According to the AIOCD, the moving annual total—or 12-month rolling sales—of overall pharma products rose 8.2% in February.
Company Performance
The performance of some key listed pharmaceutical companies based on AIOCD data:
'Higher-Than-Market' Growth
FDC Ltd. reported the highest year-on-year growth of 36% in February, followed by Cipla Ltd. and Alembic Pharma Ltd. which grew 34%, and Indoco Remedies Ltd. which rose 33%, outperforming the market.
Alkem Laboratories Ltd. gained around 32% over the previous year.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. grew 27%, GSK Pharmaceuticals Ltd. rose 26%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. gained 24% and Abbott India Ltd. grew 23%.
'In-Line With Market' Growth
Eris Lifesciences Ltd. and Ipca Laboratories Ltd. reported growth of 21% and 20%, respectively, which is almost in-line with market performance.
'Lower-Than-Market' Growth
While JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. reported growth of 18% and 17%, respectively, Ajanta Pharma Ltd. and Lupin Ltd. grew at 16% and 14%, respectively.
Zydus Lifesciences Ltd. and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. grew in the range of 11-12%.
Pfizer Ltd. reported single-digit growth of 5%, while Sanofi India Ltd. reported year-on-year fall in growth of around 4%.
