Sildenafil citrate drug sales surge

Mumbai: Different brands of the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil citrate, introduced by leading pharmaceutical companies like Zydus Cadila, Ranbaxy, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Torrent Pharma, have emerged as the blockbuster drugs among different pharmaceutical products launched during the last nine months of this year.

According to the figures released by IMS Health India, Penegra, the sildenafil citrate brand of Zydus Cadila Healthcare, grossed a total sale of Rs 7.82 crore till September 2001 since its launch in January 2001. It is ranked as the top-selling product in the Indian pharma market during the last nine months. In the second place is Caverta, the sildenafil citrate brand of Ranbaxy, which reported a sales turnover of Rs 6.31 crore in the last nine months since it was introduced.

Another sildenafil citrate brand, Androz, launched by Torrent Pharma, has been positioned fifth among the top 10 brands launched during the last nine-month period, while Sun Pharmaceuticals' brand Edegra is in the ninth position with a turnover of Rs 3.16 crore.

According to industry analysts, the "curiosity factor" has played a key role in the high turnover of sildenafil brands despite the presence of over 10 players in the market.

Zydyus Cadila's Penegra established a lead of Rs 17 lakh over Caverta, Ranbaxy's brand. While Penegra grossed a sales turnover of Rs 57.46 lakh in October, Caverta, the number one brand in monthly sales in the previous two months, clocked sales worth Rs 57.29 lakh. Currently Penegra has a market-share of 24.23 per cent compared to Caverta's 24.16 per cent.

Silagra, Cipla's brand, has reported a sales figure of Rs 32 lakh in October 2001 and a market-share of 13.69 per cent. Edegra, the Sun Pharma brand, has registered sales of Rs 24 lakh in October and a market-share of 9.94 per cent.

Androz of Torrent Pharmaceuticals has reported a monthly turnover of Rs 22 lakh and a market-share of 9.31 per cent, while Unichem Laboratories' Erix brand has a monthly sales figure of Rs 15 lakh and a market-share of 6.47 per cent. Juan of Cadila Pharmaceuticals had a sale of Rs 11 lakh and a market-share of 4.72 per cent in the month of October.

Among the top 10 pharma products launched during the last nine months, US Vitamin's Clopigrel (Clopidogrel), an anti-platelet drug, was positioned number three with a turnover of Rs 6.1 crore.

Serum Institute of India's Gene Vac-B (hepatitis-B vaccine) is in the fourth place with sales of Rs 5.85 crore, while Wockhardt is in the sixth place with a turnover of Rs 3.79 crore and a product age of nine months. US Vitamin's pioglitazone brand Pioz was placed seventh with Rs 3.54 crore sales, while Aristo Pharma's Monocef-O (Cefpodoxime proxetil), an oral cephalosporin, takes the eighth position with a sale of Rs 3.43 crore and a product age of six months.

The tenth rank goes to Khandelwal Laboratories' Cefi (Cefixime), a third-generation oral cephalosporin effective against a wide range of bacteria. Cefi registered a turnover of Rs 2.91 crore in seven months since the product was launched.