Vol. 4, No. 8 August, 2000

Nicholas Piramal intends to introduce a slew of new products in the current financial year to increase sales. These products include the anti-malarial Aablaquin, anti-infective Cefixime, cardiovascular Atovastatin, anti-psychotic Olanzapine and three anti-depressants Venalafaxin, Citalopram and Sertraline. Other newly launched products include Haemaccel and Omnatax acquired from Hoechst, Zidime acquired from Eli-Lilly, Gaviscon and Fybogel being marketed in collaboration with Reckitt. If the company’s sales were combined with that of its equal partnership in Sarabhai Piramal Pharmaceutical Products, the Nicholas group would emerge as the third largest pharmaceutical group in India after Glaxo and Cipla.

The company has decided to defer its $ 100 million ADR issue, which would have financed acquisitions and research and development. The fresh date for floating the issue will be decided later as market conditions are not conducive to the issue right now. Research into genomics is also on the cards. Its new anti-malarial molecule Aablaquin which is slated for commercial launch shortly is expected to make a difference in the export market. However, the company will first make the product a success in India before starting exports.

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Lupin Laboratories aims to rely on discovering New Chemical Entities (NCEs), Improved Chemical Entities (ICEs) and Novel Drug Delivery Systems (NDDSs) to promote the company up the value chain.

The company is in the clinical trial stage for a herbal anti-migraine drug, LLL 2011 in Europe. The drug has already cleared clinical trials in India. The only other competitor in this anti-migraine category being Glaxo’s Sumatriptan (sales: $ 1.4 billion), the company hopes to capture a significant share of the market. However, the product launch in India has been delayed pending its clinical trials abroad since the company doesn’t want the product to be limited to the local market. The company is also focussing on a few herbal therapeutic areas as outlined by the National Institute of Health, United States. Herbal drugs for respiratory problems, skin diseases and diabetes are on the cards and will be launched within an year. A new research centre in Pune with an investment of Rs 30 crore will integrate the various knowledge groups in a nodal facility. The research centre, which will engage around 200 scientists, will be operational in the second quarter of 2001.

Lupin is already the third largest anti-tuberculosis player globally and is planning to introduce fixed dose combination and new chemical entities in this field.

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Cadila Zydus, which has received permission from the Drug Controller’s office to conduct clinical trials for Penegra (local version of Viagra), will conduct clinical trials at six centres around the country. Penegra (Sildenafil Citrate) is priced at Rs 80 per 50 mg tablet. Viagra was launched by its parent company in 1998 for the treatment of erectile dysfunction which one out of every three men above fifty is expected to experience. According to a study abroad about five per cent men above forty and 15 per cent men above 50 experience erectile dysfunction.

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Dabur India has lined up clinical trials for two new chemical entities (NCEs) and one new drug delivery system (NDDS) in the anti-cancer segment over the next 16 months in a thrust towards becoming a major player in the oncology business.

The company is seeking permission from the Drugs Controller for phase I clinical trials for an injectable anti-cancer NDDS by December and will file investigational new drug application (IND) for two new NCEs one in March and the other in December 2001. These products are undergoing pre-clinical trials. Its wholly owned UK subsidiary, Dabur Oncology is in talks with two patent holders for anti-cancer molecule development.

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Cipla has lined up two anti-AIDS drugs and four anti-cancer drugs for launch in the next year. Also on the launch pad is its anti-asthmatic chiral drug R Salbutamol within six months. Chiral chemistry is the process of arriving at a purer version of a known drug rather than inventing a new drug itself. The company is also target export markets as domestic competition heats up. The company will export its CFC-free inhalers for asthmatics to Europe from 2002. Recently it received US FDA approval to market its anti-cancer flutamide through its collaboration with Zenith Goldmine, an American generics company. The company is also undertaking NDDS for the anti-ulerant omeprazole which is undergoing clinical trials in New Zealand.

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The financial institution Unit Trust of India has bough four lakh shares of Veronica Laboratories, a formulations company manufacturing paracetamol, caffeine, trimethoprim and metronidazole. Veronica Labs which has a turnover of Rs 25 crore and net profit of Rs 2.2 crore is intending to invest in doubling its capacity and setting up a new formulation unit cum research and development centre at Navi Mumbai. The plant is expected to begin commercial production by December, 2000.

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Dutch giant DSM has picked up a 24 per cent share in the joint venture Max GB for Rs 26 crore. DSM already had a 50 per cent stake in the company and this acquisition increases it to 74 per cent. Max India now becomes a minority partner with just 26 per cent stake. Max is concentrating on its core areas of information technology, healthcare and insurance and is no longer concentrating on bulk pharmaceuticals, therefore the divestment.

In a related news Price Waterhouse has valued Max India’s existing speciality products and bulk pharmaceutical business at Rs 464-510 crore compared to a book values of Rs 178 crore.

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Nicholas Piramal is in the news again. It is planning to acquire products from its collaborators Reckitt Benckiser and Boots from their healthcare OTC ventures Reckitt Piramal and Boots Piramal. Nicholas Piramal has also plans to develop international markets for its joint venture products as well as launching some of the partners’ products in India under its own banner. Two brands of Reckitt, Fybrogel and Gaviscon have already been launched this way. Nicholas has a 49 per cent stake in Boots Piramal and a 40 per cent stake in Reckitt Piramal. Reckitt Piramal’s mainstay is the antiseptic and antacid (Dettol, Dispirin, Saridon) segments while Boots Piramal’s forte (Strepsil, Sweetex, Icy and Lobate) is throat care and skin care.

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A paper prepared by Ernst & Young (E&Y) titled ‘Millennial Prospects of Indian Economy’ has slated a growth between seven and eight per cent for the Indian economy which will mostly be spearheaded by sectors like biotech, pharmaceutical, entertainment and applied research and development. The contribution of pharmaceutical towards the growth is significant. One of the indications of strong growth is the flow of credit into productive sectors and the Indian government’s continuing policy of liberalisation.

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In an address to CII D S Brar of Ranbaxy has stated that India will invest Rs 1,500 crore in research and development by 2005. He stated that India could emerge as the source of raw drugs for emerging markets. The indigenous industry could also be a source of new chemical entities for the developed world as well as for new drug delivery systems. He said that there was also scope for undertaking clinical trials in India and that the fear of Indians being termed as "guinea pigs" is baseless. He claimed that there was no research and development innovation culture in the country and that the government had to invest about Rs 400 crore to infrastructure to facilitate world class research.

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Combinatorial chemistry is emerging as an important component in accelerating the drug discovery process. The research collaboration between Schering-Plough and Pharmacopeia in the United States is currently researching this field. This collaboration will also benefit Schering-Plough’s Indian subsidiary Fulford (India). Pharmacopeia has already begun creating novel combinatorial libraries for use by Schering-Plough scientists and would undertake screening of lead compounds against therapeutic products of interest.

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Wockhardt has received the Gujarat government’s approval for manufacturing cephalosporins at its plant in Ankleshwar on a pilot basis. The products will be manufactured on a trial basis. Wockhardt needs a clearance from the centre, which will take two months, before it can start full-scale production. The unit is export-oriented and plays a key part in the company’s aim of tapping the generics market for oral and injectible cephalosporins. The company is also awaiting an approval from the US FDA to start exporting to the US market. Exports will commence in January next year to the not-so-tightly-regulated Middle East market.

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