Pharma sales grew by just 1% in November

Anti-infectives medicine sales were up 0.2% in November at ₹1,809 crore, against 6.6% growth recorded in October. Associated therapies like gastrointestinal drugs and pain and analgesics showed a 3.1% growth and 5.2% decline respectively.

Growth in vitamins also slowed down to 6.6% in November from 22.6% in the preceding month.

Respiratory medicines sales slumped at a steeper 6.9% compared to 6.6% in October.

Chronic segments like cardiac care and anti-diabetes drugs which had higher rate of growth during previous months, witnessed a slowdown in November. Cardiac drugs registered a monthly growth of 8.7% compared to 19.5 % in October, while anti-diabetics recorded 1.9% growth against 9.7% in the preceding month.

Barring Cipla and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, all top 20 drugmakers either recorded single digit growth or a decline. Sales of Micro Lab Mankind Pharma, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals were down 0.6-5.4%, the data showed.

Cipla and Glenmark recorded 12.6% and 14.5% growth respectively at ₹679 crore and ₹340 crore during the month.

While Glenmark is the market-leader for favipiravir, the best selling covid-19 drug in the country, Cipla has the largest portfolio of covid-19 medicines, which include favipiravir, remdesivir, tocilizumab, among others.

For the country’s largest seller of hydroxychloroquine, Ipca Laboratories, sales growth slowed to 4.9% during the month, reflecting the waning interest in the drug after various clinical trials showed a lack of benefit from the drug against covid-19 after it showed initial promise.