After gaining momentum in the second half of last year, two major drugs of Kovid-19 – Remadecivir and Favipiravir have fallen sharply. Data from market research company – AIOCD AWACS show that in January last year, sales of Remedisvir have come down to Rs 41 crore as compared to peak monthly sales of Rs 124 crore. Cipla’s Ciprami and Cadila Healthcare’s Remdac have been the best-selling brands over the past few months. In January too, the sales of each of these two brands have been Rs 15 crore, which is 75 per cent of Remedesivir’s total monthly. However, sales of these brands have also declined. Sales have plummeted since monthly sales of around Rs 40 crore (each) in November.
Although Remadecivir is an injectable drug given in hospitals, sales of the oral antiviral drug Favipiravir have also seen a decline during the past few months. It has now fallen sharply to Rs 18 crore in January from the peak monthly sales of Rs 117 crore in September. Glenmark’s Fafiflu is the brand that has the highest market share. However, sales of Fabiflu have also come down due to fall in cases of Kovid-19. In January, its sales have come down to Rs 12 crore in January compared to monthly sales of around Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore.
Chemists say that the sales of these drugs are declining month after month. Chemists and drug dealers say Favipiravir and Remadecivir sales in Gujarat declined by 90 to 95 percent on a monthly basis during February. Federation of Gujarat State Chemists and Druggists Association president Alpesh Patel said that the stocks of eight to 10 companies were lying idle. There is not even a 10 percent sale compared to the previous month, as there has been a drop in Kovid cases in both home care and hospitals. Many of these stocks were non-returnable. The stock that could have been returned is also being returned, as they are expiry periods of four to six months. According to Patel, the expiry of most of the stock is from April 2021 and their consignments are also not coming.
Yogesh Patel, president of the Ahmedabad branch of the association, said that even Remedisvir, which is normally being given in hospitals from day one as per WHO guidelines, has also seen a decline, because of any new serious cases or Has not increased.
Data from the Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) of Gujarat suggest that month-wise sales of ramadhesivir injection are declining. It was 2,27,558 in November 2020, which fell to 91,494 in December 2020 and 20,683 in January 2021 and slipped to only 6,564 in February 2021. On the other hand, although the Favipiravir pill figures were not available in January and February 2021, its 200mg, 400mg and 800mg tablet sales declined week-on-week in December 2020 from 25,720, 88,630 and 15,560 in the first week of the last. The week stood at 8,220, 34,975 and 4,290. However, these two drugs combined have done well in the domestic pharma market. In fact, these have enhanced exclusivity among the best-selling brands for pharma companies such as Cipla, Cadila Healthcare and Glenmark.
From its beginnings (around July last year) Remadecivir and Favipiravir have become the major selling molecules in the domestic pharmaceutical market. Statistics show that as of January 2021, the cumulative sales of Remadecivir stood at Rs 510 crore, while in the case of Favipiravir, it stood at Rs 471 crore.
