Ranbaxy ousts Cipla, GSK to be No.1

For the first time ever, Ranbaxy Labs has topped the charts for market share in the domestic pharma sector, dislodging Cipla and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

For two months in a row, June & July 2006, the Gurgaon-based pharma major held onto the no.1 spot riding on a spate of new launches "" a feat that, analysts warn, would be a challenge to sustain in the longer term.

With domestic market share of 5.4 per cent in the month of July and 5.13 per cent in June this year, Ranbaxy, which was the largest pharma company by global sales, also emerged as the company with largest market share in the domestic market.

This is followed by GSK at 5.03 per cent and Cipla at 4.76 per cent for July at second and third position respectively. Nicholas Piramal and Zydus Cadila came in at no.4 & no.5 spot respectively with 4.23 per cent and 3.31 per cent, for July.

While the rankings were the same for June, the difference between the top players has widened with Ranbaxy gaining share and Cipla, and GSK having lost ground in terms of market share.

"It is a result of sustained effort in the sprucing up company's field force, marketing effort and bringing in more products in our basket through inlicensing agreements. We have been launching one product a week for sometime and it has begun to reflect now," said Malvinder M Singh, managing director & chief executive officer, Ranbaxy Laboratories.

The competition isn't perturbed for now. "It is part of the churn in a dynamic market like India. Some products do well in a certain month and get mapped to the market share," said Amar Lulla, joint managing director, Cipla, which has around four products that ready for launch.

Analysts concur that this could be a shifting scenario. "The domestic market is extremely dynamic and one cannot ignore that. The big question is if you can maintain the dominant position. If the competitors were to come up with counter strategy through product launches, then can a company sustain its advantage in the long term?, " asked Sanjay Aggarwal, pharma sector leader, KPMG.

GSK, the erstwhile market leader, isn't anxious in the rankings game as it has a stronghold in hospital products and the vaccines.

"This is a partial view of things. Much of GSK's business comes from segments that don't get covered in ORG IMS data. If one includes that, then we have not lost out on our leadership position," said Kalyan Sundaram, managing director, GSK.

Indian pharma market, currently, is estimated at Rs 35,000 crore. This stands fourth in terms of volume and 13th in value terms.

"If the drug prices were to rise or be decontrolled, then this market would become even more lucrative and intensify the market share fight," explained a sector expert.