Drug Cos’ Sales Grow 21% in Nov on Anti-infectives

Top three gainers of the month are Macleods with 45% growth & sales at Rs. 1,108 crore; Pfizer with 35% growth & sales at Rs. 1,218 crore; Wockhardt with 32% growth & sales at Rs. 1,024 crore

Indian drug makers posted a 21% month-on-month growth in November sales, which was the highest in the past 14 months, driven by an increase in demand for respiratory anti-infective drugs. According to data from research body All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), domestic drug makers posted sales of Rs. 4,912 crore in November compared with Rs. 4,668 crore in October.

“This is indicative of viral and bacterial infections flare-up,” said Ameesh Masurekar, director, AIOCD. However, he sees revenue growth falling to 14-15% once the seasonal demand for viral and bacterial infection drugs comes down. Analysts said the November numbers should improve pharma companies’ revenues for the October-December quarter at a time most drug makers are expected to post a mark-to-market loss due to rupee depreciation. The top 20 drug companies registered a double-digit growth, AIOCD data showed.

Macleods Pharma, which has been growing consistently month-on-month, recorded the highest growth in sales. Analysts see the drug maker surpassing Dr Reddy’s in total sales within four-five months.

“The anti-infective segment seems to have bounced back, as the last couple of months this segment was dragging down sales,” said Ranjit Kapadia, vice president, Centrum Capital. These numbers come as good news to companies that were struggling with single or negative growth this year.

Dr Reddy’s, Cipla, Zydus and Unichem are some of the leading listed drug makers that have suffered loss in market share this year. Pfizer, Wockhardt and McLeod’s have seen an average 30% sales growth in the past three months. Kewal Handa, India head, Pfizer, is skeptical about the numbers and said, “We should take this growth with a pinch of salt. Growth would have come from a rollover of October stock.” Pfizer’s sales growth was led by drugs for central nervous system and diabetes, he said.