India's domestic pharma sector posts 12% growth in February 2016

The domestic pharmaceutical sector in India posted a growth of 12% in February 2016 on the back of steady volumes, sustained healthy price hikes and new launches, according to a report by Religare Institutional Research.

The pharmaceutical market research company AIOCD AWACS stated that volumes, prices and new launches contributed 3.7%, 5.4% and 3%, respectively, to domestic market growth. The NLEM (National List of Essential Medicines) portfolio registered a growth of 6.9% year-on-year, while the non-NLEM portfolio grew at 12.9 per cent.

The anti-diabetic, cardiac, derma and gastrointestinal segments, which contribute about 40% of the domestic pharma market, outperformed the market growth by 4%-6%. On the other hand, respiratory and anti-infective segments’ growth fell to 5.8% and 5.3% in comparison to12.5% and 8.1% since April 2015. Both the segments account for 24% of the market share.