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GSK’s Big Global Meet Medicine for India’s Soul
As many as 250 top executives of UK-based GSK Consumer Healthcare, led by its President Emma Walmsley, will fly down to Delhi in early February for an annual leadership meet, its first such conclave outside the UK and US, throwing the spotlight on India’s emergence as one of the fastest-growing consumer markets of the world. In the last few years, several transnational companies ranging from GE to PepsiCo to Nestle have held executive committee or board meetings in India, but this is the first time a foreign firm is bringing such a large...
read moreMerck will relaunch global brand
To boost its consumer healthcare business in India, pharma major Merck will relaunch Seven Seas Cod Liver Oil, an iconic global brand Till a few years ago, it was marketed and distributed by local company Universal Medicare. The move is expected to give Merck a strong foothold in the vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) segment within the roughly Rs 3,000-crore-over-the-counter (OTC), market in India. VMS is the largest segment within OTC occupying 30 per cent of the space. The balance is distributed between pain relievers,...
read moreDrugmakers Look to Break Rural Deadlock
Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer & Ranbaxy focus on hinterland Sample this: India’s rural market accounts for half of two-wheeler sales, a third each of fast-moving consumer goods sales and telephone subscriptions and 60% of gold consumption. In contrast, the drug industry in spite of the importance of medicine still sees the rural market accounting for just 20% of its revenues. Big drugmakers such as Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Ranbaxy and Aventis are keen to emulate the consumer industry’s success in the hinterland, but are...
read moreGSK Consumer seeks growth from rural and low market share regions
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd (GSKCH), in a presentation made to analysts last week, said it is on track to achieve its target of doubling turnover between 2007 and 2011. It overcame the limitation of a disproportionate amount of sales coming from one category, health food drinks, and within that from one brand—Horlicks. It achieved this with the help of variants, extending the brand into new categories such as biscuits, nutritional bars and noodles, and also launched a low-priced malt drink for the rural markets. All of this was...
read moreOzone Pharmaceuticals signs marketing pact with Japanese firm Koboyashi
Ozone Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday said it has entered into a marketing pact with Japan-based Koboyashi Pharmaceuticals to strengthen its presence in the pain management segment in the country. As part of the agreement, Ozone will launch Koboyashi’s air activated heat packs under the brand name “DFO Care” in the Indian market “We have entered into an original exclusive manufacturer (OEM) agreement with Koboyashi under which we will get the product from Japan and market it in India,” Ozone Group Chairman and...
read moreDrug 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...
read moreCough & cold medicines overtake antibiotics
Cough and cold seem to be our biggest worry as far as healthcare concerns go. The trend is visible with not only certain cough and cold medicines being the largest selling drugs, but with popular cough medication Phensedyl also overtaking antibiotic Augmentin to become the top-selling drug in the pharma retail market. Phensedyl, after showing a dip earlier this year, has regained its share from Augmentin. Phensedyl which is marketed by Abbott, witnessed a growth of little over 12% for the 12-month period ended October this year, while...
read moreMed device makers eye bottom of pyramid
Consumer goods companies have already found their pot of gold at the bottom of the pyramid. Now, its the turn of medical technology and device manufacturers to chase that rainbow as they reach out to the segment with low-cost innovations, specifically developed and manufactured in India. Since the rural markets and under-penetrated semiurban markets continue to hold a promise, healthcare companies are introducing devices ranging from low-cost cath labs to screening device for cardio-vascular diseases suited for use in such settings. Much of...
read moreIs government new drug pricing formula beneficial to the common people?
While on the one hand, government, though after being pushed by various organisations, put 348 essential drugs under price control, it seems the ever so strong pharma lobby prevailed on the government to tweak the rules of new pricing formula for new drugs, which is decidely in favour of the industry and to the detriment of the common people In the new proposed policy for the drugs under price control, the pricing formula mentioned is the “average of the price of the top three selling drugs”. Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP)...
read moreHealthcare in Need of Treatment
Drug pricing by manufacturers and hospital retailers exploits the consumer The common man continues to be pummelled by the more unscrupulous players of the banking, insurance, real estate and other sectors, and by less vigilant regulators. Another sector that can be added to this list is the health-pharmaceutical sector combine. The heartlessness of hospitals has been all too evident in recent years. Thanks to ‘modern’ hospitals, General Practitioners have all but disappeared from our lives, and even for an uneasy stomach, we are...
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