Indoco to launch 40 drugs in a year

Most drug launches will be in its traditionally-strong segment of antibiotics, in which Indoco figures among the top 25 firms in India. At present, the firm markets about 180 drugs in the domestic market, said F X Coutinho, director, Indoco Remedies. "Currently, we have revenues of Rs 295 crore from the domestic business," he said.

Indoco Remedies will soon form a new division called Cresta to target general physicians and paediatricians. This division will initially market brands such as Febrex for fever, Pepcheck for gastro related diseases, iron supplement Aloha and a few cough & cold products. The division will add another 120 medical representatives to the existing 1,500.

A few months ago, Indoco had launched Oncospera, an oncology division with focus on drugs for colorectal, breast, ovarian, and lung cancers. Indoco's other divisions include Indoco, Spade, Warren (dental products), Spera (general and gynaecologists), Surge-Radius (life style and chronic diseases) and Excel (ophthalmic).

Antibiotics contribute about Rs 70 crore business for Indoco. According to Coutinho, the antibiotic business of Indoco is growing at over 22 per cent compared to the industry growth rate of 16 per cent.

A Rs 400-crore company, Indoco's lead brands include anti-cold drug Febrex Plus (Rs 34 crore), Cefadroxil antibiotic Vepan (Rs 20 crore) and Cyclopam, an abdominal pain drug with a market size of Rs 23 crore. Its top 10 brands contribute more than 50 per cent of the domestic sales.

In recent years, the company have been focussing on Class II and III cities with a population of 10,000 to five lakhs and in rural markets with a population of less than 10,000 people.

This has resulted in excellent growth for Indoco, with 26 per cent domestic revenues coming from the Class II and III cities and 32 per cent revenues from the rural markets. As against this, the industry average was 22 per cent and 24 per cent respectively, said Coutinho.

The company hopes to achieve a business growth of 8 per cent during the current quarter in its domestic business, he added.