The launch of new drugs by pharmaceutical companies in the country has seen a steep drop of as much as 33% in the last two years, and the trend is likely to continue this year too. Experts attribute this to a plethora of drugs already existing in the market, leaving no scope for line extensions. More importantly, the implementation of the new product patent regime that prevents copy cat versions of drugs launched in India post 1995, has also impacted new launches.
The number of new products launched by pharma companies in India in 2004 stood at 3,000 which decreased to 2,013 in the year 2006. This is further expected to decline this year.
?Post 2005, predictably under the product patent regime, there is a considerable drop in new introduction (NI) launches evident from the fact that there was a 33% drop in the number of new introductions from 2004 to 2006 and the number of new molecules (plain) decreased by 35% from 29 in 2004 to 19 in 2006,? Shailesh Gadre, managing director, ORG IMS, a market research-based consulting company, told FE. However, the industry still gets a sizeable contribution from new introductions that can be attributed to the increased focus on fewer new introductions resulting in increased values per NI (topmost NI crossing the Rs 20 crore mark), he said. ?This trend is likely to continue in the next year as companies manage to get better returns per new introduction owing to their brand building efforts aided by increased penetration,? Gadre added.
Ranjit Kapadia of Prabhudas Lilladher attributes the situation to the decreasing scope for line extension of the drugs. ?The drugs with various strengths and forms are flooded in the market and there is hardly any scope for line extensions. Also, the lack of new copycat versions due to the implementation of the new process patent regime affects the new launches,? he said.
The numbers may drop further due to the drug controller general?s (DCGI) move to ban various fixed drug combinations (FDCs) in the country, he added.