MUMBAI: The organised pharma retail market witnessed a decent growth of over 7% in May, debunking fears of a slower growth with GSTaround the corner. In fact, the market continued with its trend of steady growth this year, starting in January with 10%, then 7% in February , nearly 10% in March, and 8.3% in April.The growth was buoyed by 10 therapies including gastrointestinal drugs, which outgrew the market, and anti-diabetic drugs showing strong double-digit growth.
There were fears that the market may witness a lower growth in May before GST kicks in, as there would be ostensible attempts to maintain a low inventory at both distributors’ level and across retail pharmacies. It seems the retail market has managed to shrug off uncertainty fears for now to report a positive trend. Analysts say the uptrend in April and May shows that real demand may be coming back to the pharma retail market. Another positive indicator is that the market has grown in the absence of viral fever, seasonal flu and monsoons setting in, which typically spur growth in anti-infectives and painkillers. The organised retail market was valued at Rs 9,401 crore in May.
Among the top 10 companies, Zydus registered the highest growth at 15.7%, fol lowed by Lupin 13.2% and Macleods at 13.1%. According to the data, Glaxo is showing signs of recovery by posting 6.4% growth, while Glenmark and USV posted robust expansion too during the month.
Glenn Saldanha, CMD, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, says, “We have seen a revival of industry growth after more than six months.This revival in growth is being seen across major therapeutic areas.”
