4 pharma firms' double-digit sales growth

Four pharmaceutical companies out of top ten Bangladeshi companies achieved double-digit growth in sales during the January-March period of this year, said global pharmaceutical market intelligence agency IMS in its first quarter report.
The report published recently said the fifth largest pharmaceutical company in the country Eskayef posted the best 21.12 percent growth followed by Renata 16.19 percent, ACI 16.17 percent and Drug International 13.79 percent.
IMS is the global source for pharmaceutical market intelligence. It provides critical information, analysis and services that drive decisions and shape strategies of the pharmaceutical companies.
It publishes such report regularly and pharmaceutical companies in the world uses the report in optimising portfolios, ensuring successful launches, managing brands and improving the effectiveness of sales teams.
The other players Incepta Pharma achieved 6.77 percent growth and Square Pharma only 2.32 percent.
Two other members on the top ten companies' list, Beximco experienced a huge 42.04 percent fall in growth, while Acme faced a 4.89 percent fall in growth during the period.
According to the IMS report, Square continued as the top player of the market with a 18.77 percent share and Tk 181.04 crore sales in the first quarter.
Despite a huge fall in sales and other performance, Beximco ranked second with a 6.94 percent market share and Tk 66.96 crore sales during the period.
Incepta Pharma ranked the third largest pharma company with a7.82 percent market share and sales of Tk 75.39 crore. Acme stood fourth with Tk 51.73 sales and 5.36 percent market share, Eskayef ranked fifth with Tk 51.61 crore sales and 5.35 percent market share.
Drug International, ACI, Aristopharma, Renata, Sanofi Aventis ranked sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth respectively in terms of sales and market share.
The total market share of the top ten companies is around 63.83 percent.
According to the IMS report, the overall sales of the industry reduced by Tk 17 crore during the first quarter of 2008 compared with the previous year.
The overall sales of the industry reached Tk 964 crore during the January March period, 2008 while the sales was Tk 981 crore the previous year.
The Industry leaders admitted the fall in sales of the products, blaming the government's over regulation and sometime unwanted interruption.
M Shafiuzzaman, president of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI), said it is not important how the growth of sales has increased or decreased, but it is most important that how the industry became matured in terms of quality of the products.
“The improvement in overall quality of medicine will help grab the international market swiftly besides expanding local market,” he added.
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