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The Chennai-based Shasun Pharmaceuticals, which plans to enter the branded generics space, has begun test-marketing drugs for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Tamil Nadu.
The prescription-driven products in the oral solid form, expected to be 5-10 per cent cheaper than existing products, will hit the pharmacies in July.
Shasun's sales representatives have begun working with over 100 pharmacies and talking to doctors about the benefits of these drugs, which have higher “bio availability”, Mr Abhaya Kumar, Managing Director, Shasun, told Business Line .
‘Bio availability' means more drugs will be available for action and the body will reject less, said Mr Kumar.
The company will invest around Rs 20 crore over two years on branded generics.
Currently, Shasun mainly manufactures APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) for several pharmaceutical companies globally such as Boots and Glaxo. Contract manufacturing of formulations for innovators forms a small part of its business at 10 per cent.
The company's presence in the branded market in India is small, through the Streptokinase drug in the biotech space. “This hardly accounts for 2 per cent of turnover. Through the launch of generic drugs, we hope the branded India business will grow to Rs 300-400 crore in five years,” said Mr Kumar.
Commenting on the to-be-launched drugs, Mr Jitesh Devendra, Head, Sales and Marketing, said with India being the diabetes capital of the world with a double-digit growth rate and Tamil Nadu being the diabetes capital in India, there is tremendous scope for pharma players. For cardiovascular diseases, Shasun has come out with an anti-coagulant.
Shasun has begun to “float the product among doctors”, Mr Devendra said, noting that the drugs would be 5-10 per cent less costly than products available in the market today.
The company has also begun to hire a “new field force” for marketing the drugs, he said.
Shasun's immediate focus will be Tamil Nadu, followed by South India. Based on the response, a pan-India rollout is also planned.
The company's turnover in 2010-11 was Rs 840 crore.
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