Export woes of Indian pharma companies

Several pharmaceutical companies in India, including Dr Reddy's Laboratories, have been trying for months to recover funds from Venezuela. The nation is not the only one giving sleepless nights to Indian pharma exporters, struggling to counter an expected drop in export growth, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

Compared to a growth of around 19% seen in the last decade, export growth in formulations, in US dollar terms is expected to decline sharply in India to 10%-12% annually over the next five years.

"Panic has started setting in at most companies. Dr Reddy's has already taken a hit of $64.7 million in its fourth quarter, since it could not get approval from the Venezuelan government to recover any more money beyond the $4 million it has already received. Glenmark Pharma is due $45 million. The devaluation of the Bolivar has even affected Sun Pharma, Strides Pharma and Claris Injectables, whose subsidiaries do business in Venezuela," said a government official.