Paracetamol Sales Ride On Analgin Ban

After the banning of fixed dose analgin combination drugs the focus has now turned to paracetamol and its combination drugs.

The analgin and paracetamol drug groups have a total market size of Rs 192 crore in India.

Paracetamol prescribed chiefly for pyrexia and inflammation has been preferred over analgin.

Analgin is alleged to cause agranulocytosis, a blood disease in which the bone marrow fails to produce white blood cells.

Analgin and its combination drugs have a huge market in India with Hoechst's product Baralgan commanding a major share of the market followed by brands of other companies like Spascan and Trigan.

 

Last December the ministry of health and family welfare banned the manufacture of analgin with combination of anti-spasmodics.

However, the Supreme Court ruling order with regard to the supply of fixed dose combination drugs of analgin with anti-spasmodics to foreign countries against existing export orders provided Hoechst and Tata Pharma with the much needed relief.

As a result of this development, the therapeutic application of paracetamol and its fixed dose combination (FDC) have gone up in the country.

Unlike analgin, paracetamol's efficacy and safety are well established.

Moreover, these FDCs are not considered to be irrational.

Glaxo-Wellcome's Calpol, the leading paracetamol fixed dose combination, has a 10.7 per cent market share.

This drug falls in the ethical sector.

Two other paracetamol drugs, Crocin and Metacin, are now being marketed as OTC (over the counter) drugs.

The Crocin brand was recently sold by Duphar to SmithKline Beecham. Its market size stands at 7.6 per cent.

Themis has also started to aggressively advertise its Metacin under OTC and is trying to increase its market share from the existing 3.6 per cent.

East India Pharmaceutical's Pyrigesic, a prescription paracetamol drug like Calpol, has a market share of only 0.8 per cent. However, the brand topped the quality ratings of the Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education Research Society (CERS).

Consumer Education Research Society has decided to initiate legal action against companies whose products fail to pass the quality tests.

The consumer forum has tested seven national brands of paracetamol to see whether they conform to quality norms.