INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
ET Intelligence Group: Multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott India, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Pfizer India and Merck, are
increasingly looking to increase their market share in the $33-billion local industry.
According to reports, the Indian pharma industry,
which is 10 per cent of the global pharmaceutical business by volume but only 3.3 per cent in value, is estimated to touch $55 billion by
the healthcare spend and quicker government approvals.
Seeing this opportunity, the global pharma majors, which together control over 80 per
cent of the branded products, have aggressively started launching products from their global portfolio into India.This has started
reflecting in the profit growth of these companies
For instance, the company launched globally leading DTP vaccines in April
The market size of this is only 275 crore but is growing at 135 per cent annually
Similarly, the company has launched several other such products, thanks to which, its net profit in the June quarter soared 235 per
cent.
GSK Pharma is not alone
Abbott India, the largest foreign pharma player in the country by sales, has set an aggressive launch programme
The company launched 21 products last year and is gearing up to add another 100 products in the next five years
Its sales grew 138 per cent last year and by 71 per cent in the June quarter.
Pfizer, the third-largest global player in India, too, will be
launching several new products in the coming years
Pfizer India has witnessed 54 per cent and 60 per cent net profit growth in the last two quarters, respectively
director, Pfizer India, said in the annual report.
Further, most of these products are on the branded side and are expected to deliver
Due to rising competition from domestic players, global pharma giants have increased their focus on the over-the-counter space that does not
This space operates more like FMCG and can lead to re-rating of the stocks
The Merck stock has more than doubled from the open offer price
Stocks of other foreign pharma companies too have seen partial re-rating; each stock is up at least 40 per cent since April
beginning.
Analysts are expecting these companies to deliver at least 17 per cent-20 per cent CAGR for the next three to five years.
