Pharma Market Up 9.9% in Value, 3.1% in Volume for November

The Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) saw an increase of 9.9% in value and 3.1% in volume in November, as per Pharmarack. Following a lackluster volume growth for four months, November emerged as a favorable month for the sector, suggesting an increase in demand across major therapy areas in both the acute and chronic segments.

"Cardiac, gastro, anti-diabetes and derma have shown robust growth above the IPM growth of 9.9%," said Sheetal Sapale, vice-president-commercial at the research firm. "Except for a few, all the top therapies have shown positive volume growth... Unit growth for a few therapies also is encouraging," she added.

In November, sales of antineoplastic drugs, or cancer medications, experienced the highest volume growth at 11.8%. The dermatology and urology divisions experienced unit growth rates of 8.3% and 8.9%, respectively. "Price and new introductions are the more dominating growth drivers," Sapale said.

The rolling yearly turnover-sales for the 12 months ending in November for major therapy areas like cardiac, gastrointestinal, and anti-infectives, making up about 38% of the IPM, grew by 12%, 13%, and 12%, respectively. The IPM, on the other hand, rose by 8%. Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline's antibiotic Augmentin and USV's Glycomet GP maintain their leading status with sales of 77 crore and 68 crore, respectively.

Sapale stated that the local pharmaceutical market demonstrated improvement in November and that the growth is expected to stabilize now. Demand has risen, and consumption has surged in the anti-infectives and gastrointestinal sectors. She mentioned that this might be related to an increase in coughs, colds, and other seasonal illnesses.