Covid-19 drugs among top-selling brands for pharma players in India

Data shows that cumulative sales of remdesivir was Rs 510 crore in January 2021, while for favipiravir it was Rs 471 crore

Covid-19 drugs such as remdesivir and favipiravir now feature among the top selling pharma brands in the country. 

Within months of their launch in 2020, these drugs emerged in the top club, competing with long-selling cardiac, respiratory and other key brands for the pharma companies. 

The data from market research firm AIOCD Pharmasofttech AWACS (AIOCD AWACS) shows that the cumulative sales of remdesivir was Rs 510 crore in January; for favipiravir, it was Rs 471 crore. 

In a matter of months, favipiravir (FabiFlu), an oral antiviral drug used to treat mild to moderate Covid, has become the No. 1 brand for Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (Glenmark) in the Indian market. 

The company was the first to launch favipiravir in India around June last year. It slashed the prices in July after a slew of other brands were launched. 

Cardiac brands like Telma and Telma H (used for hypertension), strong dermatology brands like Candid, and cough syrup brands like Ascoril feature on the list of top 10 brands for Mumbai-based Glenmark. 

Glenmark has three brands of FabiFlu (in different strengths). These accounted for Rs 350-crore sales since their launch. Sales, however, have been slowing for Glenmark, thanks to competition picking up. 

In July 2020, sales of favipiravir touched Rs 62 crore and Glenmark enjoyed the entire market share. In January, however, sales dropped to Rs 12.43 crore, as the market got carved up between other brands. 

There are a clutch of favipiravir brands in the Indian market now - Hetero's Favivir, Lupin's Covihalt, Cadila Healthcare's Favidac, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ (Sun Pharma’s) FluGuard, and Cipla's Ciplenza, to name a few. 

In comparison, the remdesivir segment is less crowded, given the only licence holders from Gilead Sciences, Inc. can make and market the patented molecule in India. 

According to the AIOCD AWACS data, the market leader here is Cadila Healthcare with Remdac, which has seen sales worth Rs 161 crore since its launch in August 2020.

Cipla's Cipremi is the second-largest selling brand here, followed by Mylan's Desrem and Dr Reddy's Laboratories' Redyx. 

Hetero, Glenmark, and Sun Pharma also have remdesivir brands in the Indian market. 

Cipremi is now the eighth highest-selling brand for Cipla in the Indian market, while Remdac is the fourth highest for Cadila Healthcare. 

Cadila Healthcare's dexamethasone, too, features in the top 10 brands for the firm, as Covid-19 has pushed up demand for this rather inexpensive steroid. 

Cipla's Global Chief Financial Officer Kedar Upadhye said these Covid-19 brands like Cipremi became big quickly, however, the overall quantum of sales may start going down from the fourth quarter as Covid cases decline.