Ranbaxy eyes niche products in US, Europe

Ranbaxy Laboratories, the country's biggest drugmaker, is all set to focus its energies in developing and marketing niche products where price erosion is minimal. The company's move is aimed at beating the pricing pressure in key generics markets of the US and Europe.

The company had identified a basket of high-value medicines that come under the category of "limuses and penams" to strengthen its revenues from key export markets, said Ranbaxy MD and CEO Malvinder Mohan Singh. The combined market size of the two categories was worth $3 billion, he added.

"We have significantly increased our focus on product categories such as limuses and penams to maximise our returns. Dedicated facilities for the development and manufacture of these products are in place. We are already marketing some of these products to developing countries and have made some abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) filings in the regulated markets. These products should be our revenue earners in 2008-2010," Singh said.

Ranbaxy is way ahead of its competitors in manufacturing capabilities when it comes to limuses and penams.

Interestingly, limuses and penams form part of the multi-billion opportunity the company is looking at in the US market.

The 20 first-to-file IV ANDAs, which hint at a possibility of 180 days' exclusive marketing rights on the drug, also include limuses and penams. According to Ranbaxy, its ANDA filings alone aim at a generics market, whose innovator market size is in excess of $25 billion.

The company is also set to introduce its first biosimilar product, G-CSF (filgrastim), acquired through a global development and marketing pact with Zenotech Laboratories.

The company will first introduce the product in the EU markets and later in the US and other countries. The worldwide market for neutropenia treatment is in excess of $4 billion, while the global G-CSF market is about $1.6 billion, Ranbaxy informed.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2007, Ranbaxy filed three ANDAs with the US FDA and received approval for four, taking the cumulative filings to date to 199 with 111 approvals. In the EU, the company made 10 national filings in nine Reference Member States (RMS) and received nine approvals in four RMS.