 "Teneligliptin topples other diabetes drugs in growth")
Tenelegliptin, an anti-diabetic drug launched a year ago by Glenmark, has emerged as the preferred line of treatment for Type 2 diabetes because of its price and several pharmaceutical companies are now scrambling for a share of this market.
The overall gliptin market is growing at 40 per cent a year but teneligliptin is growing at 90-100 per cent. In just around one year India has 34 brands of teneligliptin by 30 companies, and brands with a combination of teneligliptin and metformin number 23.
"Teneligliptin was the only gliptin to be manufactured in India from API to formulation. With the launch of Ziten and Zita Plus (teneligliptin), the daily cost of treatment for a diabetes patient on gliptin therapy was brought down dramatically,” said Glenn Saldanha, chairman and managing director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.
Gliptin is the nickname for a group of medicines called dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors that are relatively new in the treatment of diabetes.These are a class of oral hypoglycemics that can be used to treat diabetes mellitus Type 2.
While the other gliptins, including Vildagliptin, Sitagliptin, Linagliptin and Saxagliptin, cost Rs 40 a dose, Teneligliptin, a Japanese molecule, costs Rs 10. Variants cost Rs 6-10 per dose.
Teneligliptin’s turnover has grown to Rs 19 crore a month, against Rs 17 crore for Vildagliptin, among the oldest gliptins launched in 2007-08. An executive with an Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company said in March teneligliptin and metformin had a turnover of Rs 2-3 crore a month.
"Most brands are tightly priced, Cadila Pharmaceuticals has a brand Tenali, which is priced at Rs 6.9 per dose, compared to some of the popular dosages available in the market that are priced around Rs 7," he added.
"It is definitely a game of predatory pricing. But this is just the beginning. We cannot remember the last time any drug saw such a huge market response. It is a game of volumes," said another drug industry executive.
Of the 68 million diabetics in India, over 1.85 million have switched to teneligliptin. India's anti-diabetic market is one of the fastest growing therapy segments, with growth exceeding 25 per cent at Rs 7,638 crore, according to October data by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists Association (AIOCD). India's gliptin market, estimated at Rs 1,800 crore yearly, is growing at 40 per cent annually.
When Glenmark launched teneligliptin the market was controlled by a few multinational drug companies. Glenmark’s teneligliptin was 55 per cent cheaper than most gliptins at the time of its launch.
Glenmark introduced this molecule at Rs 19.90 per tablet per day treatment. It brought down prices after Mankind Pharma and Zydus Cadila launched teneligliptin priced at Rs 7 per dose.
The introduction of teneligliptin has saved a diabetic patient approximately Rs 9,000 a year.
