Singapore, July 2010: After experiencing a growth phase over the past few years, the global pharma market is passing through a stagnant phase mainly due to patent expiry of blockbuster drugs and saturation of the pharma market in western countries.

Plavix, anti-platelet medicine, developed by Sanofi-aventis maintained its second position in the APAC market with sales revenues of $487.25 mn in 2009. AstraZeneca’s Crestor, which is prescribed to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, is in third position with sales revenue of $337.10 mn in 2009.

AstraZeneca’s Crestor, which is prescribed to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, is in third position with sales revenue of $337.10 mn in 2009. Crester registered an outstanding growth of 37.6 percent as pared to the revenues generated in 2008. Next in the list of top products are Nexium by AstraZeneca, Norvasc by Pfizer and Seretide by GlaxoSmithKline.

Zyprexa approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder generated revenues to the tune of $227.37 mn in 2009 and is marketed by Eli Lilly and Company and Glivec by Novartis that is used to treat certain types of cancer generated $204.2 mn last year.

In terms of growth, over the previous fiscal, besides Crestor, Sodium Chloride, which is used largely in China for medicinal purpose in hospitals clocked an outstanding growth of 35.6 percent. Chinese herbal product Shu Xue Ning churned sales revenue of $197.7 mn and registered 33.6 percent growth over the previous fiscal.

Top 10 Therapies

According to IMS Health, the top 10 therapies generated over $20 bn in the APAC market. Cephalosporins & combs generated $5.04 bn in 2009 and maintained its top position. It was followed by Kanpo & Chinese medicines that drove the market with $2.65 bn. Antiulcerants maintained its third position in the market with an estimated revenues of $2.43 billion.

Country Performances

China has the strongest market for pharma products and it contributes a major portion of the business in the APAC region. The market value of pharma products in China is $25.3 bn in 2009 followed by Korea at $9.3 bn and Australia at $9.2 bn. India, Malaysia and Singapore are valued at $8.2 bn, $572 mn and $446 mn respectively.

China

The pharma market in China is dominated by traditional herbal medicines. However, modern medicine also has its presence in the market. The IMS Health report states that the total value of the China pharma market was $25 bn in 2009 with seven out of top 10 products comprising traditional Chinese medicines. Sodium chloride stood at the top with a sales revenue of $211.14 mn in 2009 followed by Shu Xue Ning at $197.7 mn and Ke Lin Ao at $154.7 mn.

The World Health Organization has been insisting on the integration of modern and traditional medicines in order to form a new branch of medical science. Plavix developed by Sanofi-aventis generated sales of $130.9 mn in 2009 and Losec manufactured by AstraZeneca made business of $111.2 mn in China. Losec is a proton-pump inhibitor used for the treatment of stomach ulcers, severe gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.

Korea
 
In Korea, Plavix from Sanofi-aventis leads the market with revenue of $81.4 mn in 2009 followed by Lipitor from Pfizer at $62.2 mn. Glivec from Novartis is at the third position with sales revenue of $57.7 mn. Baraclude by Bristol-Myers Squibb made sales of $54.9 mn in 2009.

Baraclude or entecavir is a prescription medicine used for chronic infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in adults where the virus is multiplying and damaging the liver. Hepatitis B is the world’s most common serious liver infection, affecting nearly one-third of the world’s population. Over time, chronic hepatitis B can lead to severe liver damage in some people.

Other top performing drugs in Korea are Stillen by Dong-A, Norvasc by Pfizer, Bacchus-D by Dong-A, Hepsera by GlaxoSmithKline, Diovan by Novartis and Dilatrend by Chong Kun Dang. Though the Korean pharma market is still dominated
by multinational companies, Korean companies like Dong-A and Chong Kun Dang are competing with the drug giants as they were able to secure three positions in the top performing products of Korea. With the prediction that healthcare spending in South Korea is expected to increase from $58.9 bn in 2009 to $80 billion in 2010, Korean companies are investing profits into generics and are developing their brand in a strong way in APAC market.

Australia

The pharma market in Australia is led by Lipitor with a record sales of $481.8 mn in 2009 followed by Crestor and Nexium both developed by AstraZeneca at $201 mn and $166.2 mn respectively.

India

The total pharma market of India is valued at $8.2 bn and the top performing product of the country is Phensedyl Cough made by Mumbai-based Piramal Healthcare. The product did business of $39 mn in 2009. The next top performing products are Human Mixtard 30/70 by Abbott and Corex by Pfizer that did business of $38 mn and $35 mn respectively in 2009. Human Mixtard 70/30 is available as injectable and is a dualacting insulin. It is a biphasic formulation containing fast-acting and long-acting insulin. Corex is a cough syrup available in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and a few other South Asian countries. Corex was the first brand in the Indian pharmaceutical industry to cross the $22 mn mark in 2005.

Next in the row is Voltaren by Novartis that generated $34 mn in 2009. It is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) taken to reduce inflammation and as an analgesic reducing pain in conditions such as arthritis or acute injury. It is used for musculoskeletal complaints, especially arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, osteoarthritis, dental pain, TMJ, spondylarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout attacks, and pain management in cases of kidney stones and gallstones. Other top performing products in India are Augmentin by GlaxoSmithKline, Zifi by FDC, Taxim by Alkem and Monocef by Aristopharma.

Malaysia

Lipitor maintained its top position in Malaysia and registered sales figure of $8 mn in 2009. It is followed by Plavic, Norvasc and Crestor as the top four products in the chart. The healthcare spending of Malaysia is growing at about 13 percent a year. This is indicative of a trend towards an increasingly healthy lifestyle and promises to open up opportunities for Malaysia’s pharmaceutical companies to meet the increased demand for healthcare products.

Domestic companies dominate the generics and over the counter (OTC) products, while multinational companies reign strong in branded drugs. The pharmaceutical industry in Malaysia relies heavily on imported products, which fulfill 70 percent of the demand. The major imported drugs in Malaysia are lifestyle drugs such as cholesterol lowering and anti-diabetics, cardiovascular, and oncology drugs.

Singapore

With the outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1) flu virus worldwide in 2009 and Singapore being on the radar of the virus outbreak, there was an urgent need for the medication to prevent the spread of the virus. Wide accessibility of Tamiflu by Roche in Singapore drove the product to touch the sales of approximately $8 mn. Roche has a stronghold in Singapore and besides Tamiflu its products Herception and Avastin are the top three products in the region. Herception registered sales revenue of $7 mn in 2009 and Avastin registered $6 mn.

Herceptin is used for the treatment of breast cancer and can be used for the treatment regimens including doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and either paclitaxel or docetaxel or as a single agent following multi-modality anthracycline-based therapy. Bevacizumab approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are used for cancer treatments that are metastatic (have spread to other parts of the body).

Avastin is a humanized monoclonal antibody that recognizes and blocks vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). VEGF-A is a chemical signal that stimulates the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Avastin is approved by the FDA for metastatic cancers. In Singapore, among the top 10 products, five are manufactured and branded by Roche, followed by AstraZeneca, of which three products Crestor, Nexium and Iressa are in the top 10 list.

Global Market

The total market value of the pharma products is estimated at $748 bn. The top 15 products in the global market contributed $95 billion in 2009. Lipitor maintained its top position in the consecutive year by registering a sales figure of $13.3 bn. Second in the list is Plavix that showed a growth of 4.9 percent over 2008 and made business of $9 bn in 2009.

Growth wise, Crestor by AstraZeneca performed well with a growth rate of 36.5 percent in 2009 over the previous year, followed by Abilify, which registered 30.7 percent growth. Abilify is indicated for the treatment of anti-depressant in adults. It can also be used for the treatment of manic and mixed episodes associated with Bipolar I Disorder in adults and in pediatric patients between 10 and 17 years of age. It is taken for treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age and treatment of irritability associated with autistic disorder in pediatric patients between six and 17 years of age.

In global market, Seretide registered revenues of $8 bn in 2009. Seretide is used in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and it contains fluticasone/salmeterol. Of the products that performed better in pharma segment at a global level, Lipitor, Plavix, Crestor, Nexium and Seretide are the products that made it to the top 10 products listing in the Asia Pacific region.

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