Covid-19 & low base in 2020 boost anti-infectives growth, shows data

Antibiotics, antivirals spur drug category; chronic therapies post lower numbers

Boosted by a Covid-19 drugs portfolio and a low base in 2020, segments like anti-infectives (antibiotics and antivirals), pain and analgesics, and respiratory emerged as the top growing therapies of calendar year 2021 (CY21).

Data from India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) based on AIOCD-AWACS numbers shows that anti-infectives clocked a 25.5 per cent growth in CY21. Similarly, pain and analgesics (which comprises drugs like paracetamol) clocked a 22.6 per cent growth rate. The respiratory segment, which saw declines for most of 2020, posted a 20.1 per cent growth for MAT (moving annual turnover or turnover of the last 12 months) in December.

RC Juneja, chairman of Mankind Pharmaceuticals, said antibiotic sales have picked up since September. “The demand for antibiotics was low in 2020, when most people stayed indoors and few contracted infections like seasonal flu etc. But, in 2021 we saw demand coming back since September or so. Also, many doctors are prescribing antibiotics like Azithromycin for Covid patients,” Juneja explained.

Mankind Pharma clocked an 18.7 per cent growth in CY21 (MAT December), and anti-infectives was a key therapy area for the company.

Moreover, sales of antiviral drugs like Remdesivir and Favipiravir have added to the segment’s growth in the domestic market. Analysts peg the sales of antivirals like Favipiravir and Remdesivir together at Rs 2,700 crore for CY21. In fact, antivirals as a category posted 21 per cent year-on-year growth in CY21, said Nishith Sanghvi, associate director, large corporates, Ind-Ra. As for respiratory sales, a senior industry executive of a Mumbai-based drug major said, “Covid as well as the low base effect of 2020 helped the segment.”

Analysts point out that the low base effect is also the reason for the high growth rate of some other therapy areas. In fact, in CY21, the Rs 1.67-trillion Indian pharma market (IPM) clocked a growth of 14.9 per cent, compared with 3 per cent growth the previous year. “CY22 will be a year of normalisation. While the low base of 2020 and Covid therapy sales benefitted CY21 growth, we believe the IPM will revert to its 8-10 per cent growth trajectory in future,” said Sanghvi.

In comparison, chronic therapies like cardiac and anti-diabetic have posted relatively slower growth rates in CY21. Cardiology drugs constitute 14 per cent of the domestic drug market, while anti-infectives account for about 13 per cent.

Industry insiders and analysts feel this is because of pricing pressure in certain classes of drugs. 

“Vildagliptin, a key diabetic molecule from Novartis, went off patent, resulting in a 70 per cent price drop as generic companies rushed to launch copy-cat versions of the drug,” said an analyst.

Vitamins (15.8 per cent) and gynaecological (16.1 per cent) therapies also posted robust growth in CY21. Companies like Sun Pharma, Mankind, Alkem, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, and Emcure did well in CY21, along with Macleods and Aristo Pharma.