Sales of anti-malarial drugs jump 76% on the back of long rainy season

The heavy and long rainy season led to a spike in sales of anti-malarial drugs in Mumbai. During the September quarter, sales of antimalarial drugs saw 76 per cent growth over the previous quarter, the highest in the last six quarters.

The long, rainy season and the ensuing rise in antibiotic (anti-infective category) sales boosted the overall growth of the domestic pharma industry during the September quarter. Data from AIOCD AWACS showed that with an 11.5 per cent growth, the July to September quarter was among one of the best quarters in over a year. The volumes jumped 3.2 per cent, while prices were up 5.5 per cent.

Analysts said that the robust monsoons helped in boosting sales of the anti-infectives. Most therapy areas, however, clocked double digit growth during the quarter.

As for anti-malarial drug sales, the category had seen a marginal 0.2 per cent growth (in terms of moving annual turnover or MAT) in June and for the April-June period, the growth was around 0.5 per cent. Sales of antimalarials remained flat year on year (YoY) in the June quarter at Rs 104.8 crore. However, with strong monsoons, it picked up. The biggest beneficiary of the rise in vector-borne diseases and, in turn, sales of antimalarial drugs has been Ipca, which enjoys a 54 per cent market share in the segment. Ipca saw a 15 per cent growth in antimalarial drug sales in the September quarter to Rs 296.2 crore.

Recently, the government said that India had been largely successful in bringing down malaria cases and deaths, which declined by 49.09 per cent and 50.52 per cent in 2017, respectively, as compared to 2013.