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Article on Pharma Industry

What are the Generic Drugs

Pharma Industry in India:

Pharma as a sector adds huge revenue to the GDP of India as well as of the world.

A highly organized sector, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is estimated to be worth $4.5 billion and is growing at about 8% to 9% every year. The pharma industry in India ranks very very high in the third world countries, in terms of technology, quality and range of medicines manufactured.

Globally the Indian pharmaceutical industry ranks fourth in terms of volume (with an 8% share in global sales), 13th in terms of value (with a share of 1% in global sales) and produces 20% to 24% of the world's generic drugs (in terms of value). The Indian pharmaceutical sector is highly fragmented. It has more than 20,000 registered units and faces severe price competition along with government price control. This price competition is a boon for importers or customers from other countries as they get the quality medicines at a much lower cost.

The Pharma industry has grown exponentially in the last two decades. As many as 250 leading pharmaceutical companies control over 70% of the market, with the market leader holding nearly 7% of the market share. India is emerging as the global hub for contract research and manufacturing services due to a combination of low-cost and world-class quality standards.

With Pharma majors facing increased pressure on profit margins, spiralling R&D costs and rising overheads, outsourcing of clinical research processes to third parties in developing countries seems a viable option. By contracting such work to India, they save 40% to 60% in new drug development. Consumer spending on healthcare went up from 4% of GDP in 1995 to 7% in 2007. That number is expected to rise to 13% of GDP by 2015.

Major Players in the Industry:

Two types of companies exist in the Indian pharmaceutical sector: companies of Indian origin (domestic) and foreign MNCs.

Table (I) lists the rankings of the major players based on their sales figures. GlaxoSmithKline, Cipla, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, and Ranbaxy are the top four companies in terms of gross sales.

Other companies' sales values are very similar, and the rankings can change with time. The top MNCs with a presence in India are Glaxo-SmithKline, Hoechst Marion Roussel, Knoll Pharma, and Pfizer. Approximately 20,000 pharmaceutical units exist in India. Ranbaxy, the leading domestic company, reported sales of Rs. 1745.9 crores ($356.3 million, assuming that $1.00 Rs 49) during 2000. Glen mark Pharmaceuticals, Cadila Healthcare, Ajanta Pharma, and Elder Pharmaceuticals are among other upcoming companies. According to the research 80% of the formulations produced are consumed indigenously, whereas the majority of the bulk drugs manufactured are exported. Table (II) lists the top 10 countries to which India exports drugs and pharmaceuticals. The ranking is based on the export figures of 1999-2000. Russia and the United States are the top two importers of bulk drugs and pharmaceuticals from India ($100.7 million and $137.9 million, respectively). However, countries such as Brazil, Singapore, and Iran experienced a tremendous growth in the import of pharmaceuticals from India in recent years

Table I	Table II

Contract Manufacturing is another area that is increasing the scope of the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry's and providing as edge for other MNCs and local players present in India.

The Asian region has recently been challenging North America and Europe's traditional domination of the global pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market: India and China could potentially account for 35 percent to 40 percent of the outsourced market share for active pharmaceutical ingredients, finished dosage formulations and intermediates.

Two major developments suggest that Indian drug manufacturers are set to benefit from an outsourcing boom. First, such an upsurge in business always occurs when a number of top-selling drugs come off-patent, as is about to happen. Second, the arrival of India's product patent regime has increased international companies' confidence in India's outsourcing industry

Table III

Indian successes in this area have already created some significant international developments. For example, last year, Jubilant Organosys, which has the largest, CRAMS (Contract Research and Manufacturing Services) business in India, acquired Target Research Associates plus 64 percent of Trinity Laboratories and its wholly owned subsidiary Trigen Labs, all U.S.-based firms. Another large Indian firm, Bilcare Ltd, acquired its first manufacturing facility in the U.S. last year, with the purchase of Philadelphia-based ProClinical Inc. The global CRAMS space is projected to touch US$ 64 billion by 2010.

India has always been the preferred outsourcing hub. The following factors are responsible for driving the domestic CRAMS market:

• State-of-the-art infrastructure
• Advanced research proficiency
• A sustained and reliable regulatory environment
• Availability of trained manpower

These points clearly Highlight the achievements and scope of the companies as well as the of the industry that is increasing day by day.

Indian Companies as Global Players:

Ranbaxy is widely believed to be seeking to attain the third position through an alliance with a major company. Wockhardt and Dr Reddy's are also particularly active in terms of acquisitions in the generics sector.

In the period from January 2004 - when Ranbaxy formalized its purchase of RPG (Aventis) for $80 million, making it the fifth-largest generics supplier in France - until October 2005, Indian firms made 18 international acquisitions.53 Glen mark, Jubilant Organosys, Nicholas Primal and Ranbaxy each acquired two overseas businesses during this time, but the biggest Indian buy was Matrix Labs's acquisition of Belgium's Docpharma for $263 million in June 2005.

Then in February 2006, the largest-ever acquisition by an Indian pharmaceutical company was announced, when Dr Reddy's bought Germany's fourth-largest generics company, Betapharm Arzneimittel, from UK-based 3i for $573.6 million. Betapharm Chief Executive Wolfgang Niedermaier commented, "Dr Reddy's impressive pipeline of generic and innovative products and its high-quality standards, combined with competitive manufacturing costs, will help further develop our position in the German market and offer an entry platform for the European market".

These Achievements clearly indicate the success and Milestones created in the Pharmaceutical sector of India.

Opportunities:

The main segments where there is a huge opportunity is in the area of generics. Indian drug manufacturers currently export their products to more than 65 countries worldwide.

Their largest customer is the U.S. which is also the world's biggest pharmaceutical market.

Now what are these Generic Drugs and why they are cheaper than Branded Drugs?

A generic drug commonly known as generic is a drug that is manufactured and marketed without patent protection. A generic drug may have a patent on its formulation but not on the active ingredients used for making the drugs.

The main reasoning that exists behind the low cost of these Generic Drugs is that whenever a pharmaceutical manufacturer goes for developing a new drug, they go for obtaining patent for that drug. The patent that they obtain protects the manufacturer's investment which they had invested in developing the drug and this violates the right of anybody else to legally sell the exact same drug for a period of time as specified. As per the norms it is said that product remains protected for tenure of 17 years.

The patent-protected drug is considered to be the innovator drug. When a customer purchases this drug, they are also paying for the research costs, the costs involved in proving that the drug is safe for consumption, the costs involved in marketing the product and transportation cost involved in the drug, and a premium if the Drug is only available for a certain symptom, disease or condition. These costs make the drugs very expensive for consumers to purchase. The manufacturer considers this as much of the price a way to recoup its development costs.

Once this patent-protected tenure passes, other companies can also manufacture and sell that particular drug with the same ingredients as that of the branded one. However, as per the FDA norms a generic drug must have a new name. As the company goes for manufacturing the generic didn't incur any costs of the original research, testing or marketing there by the cost becomes lower. Thus making the product cheaper than branded medications.

Reasons For Choosing AllDayChemist:

The last three decades have completely changed the face of the global pharmaceutical industry. There is a Latin adage that describes this transformation, 'Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis' meaning, 'the times are changing, and we are changing with them.'

AllDayChemist is well aware of this transformation and is in the fore-front. The pharmacy has powerful combination of skills and resources that provides a platform for delivering strong growth in today's rapidly changing healthcare environment.

Our endeavor is to provide medicines that are designed to improve the health and quality of life of patients around the world - medicines which are innovative, effective and which offer added benefits such as reduced side effects or better ways of functioning. Our product range is manufactured by leading companies such as Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's, Cipla etc. and covers the following segments (this may however not be a comprehensive classification) :

• Cardiovascular Drugs (Anti-hypertensives, Hypolipidaemic Agents)
• Anti Diabetic Drugs
• Anti Bacterial / Anti Biotics
• Anti-inflammatory / Analgesics / Antiarthritics
• Anti-Virals
• Anti-Ulcerants
• Anti Spasmodic Agents
• Antiallergics / Antihistamines / Anti Cold Agents
• Anti-Fungal
• Anti Emetic
• Vitamins and Minerals / Hematinics
• Erectile Dysfunction Treating Agents
• Anti Helmenthetics
• Anti Diarrheal / Antiprotozoal Agents
• Smoking Cessation Agents
• Hepato-biliary
• Anti-thyroid
• Heamostatic Agents
• Gout Treating Drugs
• Anti Obesity Agents
• Ergot Alkaloids
• Estrogen Hormones / Estrogens
• Anti AIDS / Anti Cancer / Ontological Disorder Drugs
• Drugs for Acne
• Herbal Products / Cosmetics

As a matter of policy, we strictly do not deal in any narcotic or controlled substances.

Our staff of dedicated employees works to ensure quality and overall effectiveness, and our medicines are making a difference in the lives of millions of customers across the globe. We have a separate Customer Support Department consisting of staff operating via phone lines, online chat and e-mail support operating 24/7.

All our orders are packed in eco-friendly recyclable packaging and is usually shipped via express shipping. This ensures that the consignments are delivered within 5-12 days time from the date of shipment.

Pricing is one of the important concern especially when you are making a purchase from an online Pharmacy. We regulate our prices according to the market and industry norms and always keep a close watch on the prices so that our customers pay the right amount. We do have some good offers on most of the hot selling products as this is our way of rewarding our valued customers.

Innovation has always remained a key to success in the past as well as in the future so we also follow this to stand out as a Leader and compete with all others. As we totally understand we need to give something new to our customers so we keep coming up with new features and added attractions that help you to add more items to your cart at a small reasonable amount.

There are many who make promise but there are few who fulfill them!!!!