NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Costing a fraction of the brands sold by global organisations and their local affiliates, medical experts say the strengthening trend of new, low-priced drugs with fewer side effects may fundamentally change the way the disease is treated.

Against the average price of Rs 42 per tablet for brands marketed by global companies, Indian firms including Zydus Cadila, Mankind, Ajanta Pharma, Wockhardt, Intas, Alembic and Unichem sell their products in the same class at prices ranging from Rs 7 to Rs 19.90 per tablet.

There are over 16 brands in this new market and sales have touched Rs 24 crore in the past six months, according to AIOCD PharmaTrac, a local pharmaceutical market research firm. Glenmark was the first off the block in July with a dual branding strategy of Ziten Rs 19.90 a taband Zita Plus drugs priced at let. Last week, the company slashed the Rs 9.90 per tablet. Data show the price to combined sales of the two brands touched about Rs 18 crore.

The launch of the drugs played a major role in significantly reducing the price of treating diabetes in the country, said Glenn Saldanha, Chairman of Glenmark Pharma. Being the first to hit the market, Glenmark said it needed the mark said it needed the backing of robust clini cal trial data.