Time to focus on Brand

The impact of the economic slowdown seems to be finally moving away from the Indian pharmaceutical industry. And riding on the roll back, Lupin, India’s fifth largest drug maker in terms of sales, has just unveiled its ambitious growth plans. After a successful stint in India, Lupin is all set to capture the US market. The company is planning to launch new branded generic drugs every year in the US in specialised theurapatic areas. And why not? The US pharmaceuticals market has always been a priority market for this drug major. In fact, it contributed around 35% to Lupin’s consolidated revenues for the financial year ending March 31, 2009. However, Lupin, which is one of the fastest growing company and is also amongst the top ten players in the generic markets including US, Japan, India and South Africa, has made this strategic move to increase its revenues and at the same time shield itself from the fluctuations of prices in the unbranded generic segment. Considering the fact that a lot of patents are about to expire, the move certainly makes a lot of business sense. Moreover, the advantage of having branded generic version of the drugs is that even though the cost of the drug comes down, the company can still continue to benefit from the sales of the drug even after the patent expires. This strategy has in fact been followed by many branded drug companies across the globe. Last year, Merck & Co. had also adopted the same strategy when the patent for its blockbuster osteoporosis drug was due to expire. It went ahead with the route of having branded generic version for this drug. Similar was the case with drug major Pfizer, which started selling the branded generic version of its antidepressant, after it went off patent in the year 2006. All this shows the enormous potential that this segment has. Even the stock market has responded favourably to this decision of Lupin and its share prices have soared after this announcement. No doubt, the strategy will further strengthen its presence in US and will add on to its revenues, but then, with rising competition from its domestic counterparts, the company will certainly have to fight hard to make its presence felt in the branded generic segment in the US.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
1 lakh copies sold in less than 10 days of Arindam Chaudhuri’s “Discover The Diamond In you”
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better – Mail Today Survey
Events at IIPM
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON

Rashmi Bansal Publisher of JAMMAG magazine caught red-handed, for details click on the following links.

• Hindustan Times Article - Publisher goes underground
• Rashmi Bansal (Editor of JAMMAG)
• Rashmi Bansal (Publisher of JAMMAG)