Indian Pharma Market Growth Slows In December
The pharma industry's revenue rose 5.3% year-on-year in December.
India's pharma industry's growth slowed in December, dragged down by the chronic and acute segments.
The industry revenue increased 5.3% year-on-year in December, Motilal Oswal said in a report. That compares with a 6.6% rise in November and 8.5% in December 2020, it said.
According to India Ratings and Research Pvt., volumes declined 1.5% year-on-year, price growth was at 5.4%, while new product launches were up 1.4% over the preceding year, driven by acute therapy products or drugs for short-term illnesses like respiratory ailments, cough and cold.
December, Jefferies said, also "didn't benefit from a low base effect".
India Ratings, citing All Indian Origin Chemists & Distributors' data, said:
Growth in chronic therapies for long-term ailments eased as sales of cardiac and anti-diabetic drugs rose at a slower pace of 4.1% and 1.3% year-on-year, respectively.
Central nervous system therapies grew at 7.3%.
Anti-infectives witnessed a 2.8% decline.
Sales of acute therapies such as gastro, respiratory and pain/analgesics rose 9.2%, 21.7% and 13.5%, respectively, aided by a low base.
India Ratings expects the demand for analgesics, multivitamins, and cough and cold segments to improve over the next three months, owing to seasonality and the third wave of Covid-19 infections. It sees Indian pharma market's revenue to grow over 12% year-on-year in the ongoing financial year.
According to Motilal Oswal, sales of non-Covid drugs rose 4.7% year-on-year, while that of Covid therapy drugs increased 6.4%. Vaccine sales, it said, declined 15.3% year-on-year.
Jefferies sees Indian pharma market to move to a high base from early FY23, which could pose further challenges.
MAT Performance
The moving annual total, or 12-month rolling sales, of overall pharmaceutical products rose 14.9% in December, according to India Ratings.
Company Performance
According to Motilal Oswal:
Among the top corporates, IPCA Laboratories Ltd., AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd., Merck India Pvt., Mankind Pharma Ltd., Ajanta Pharma Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Indoco Remedies Ltd., and Eris Lifesciences Ltd. grew significantly higher than the Indian pharma market.
On a MAT basis, Wockhardt Ltd., FDC Ltd., IPCA Labs, Merck reported industry-leading volume growth. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. posted the highest growth in new launches.
Jefferies said IPCA Labs registered the highest growth in December, while Cipla Ltd., Lupin Ltd., Cadila Healthcare Ltd., Alkem Laboratories Ltd. and Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd. underperformed the market.