Booming business in the time of swine fluMUMBAI: Flick a coin — tails it’s pain, heads it’s gain. Conspiracy theorists will tell you arms producers live in fear of peace (when they’re Swine flu has produced its share of panic, and profit. Take Roche, which distributes Tamiflu. By the end of the year, this Swiss pharma giant will have sold 1.2 billion pounds worth of Tamiflu tablets — that almost Rs 10,000 crore! Readers may recall that this paper ran a big story with a big graphic a few days ago on the stampede for face masks. Today, even money won’t get you an N-95, and people are willing to pay almost anything for it because they’ve been told it protects you from the big bad world of germs like no other masks does. In the past few days, Tamiflu and masks have been joined in the war against swine flu by a slew of other protective ‘gear’ —- from vitamins, paracetamols, eucalyptus oil and alternative medicines, to liquid hand sanitisers, anti-bacterial washes, immunity builders, surface cleaners and thermometers. Products that were gathering dust at the back of chemists’ stores and now flying off the shelves faster than you can sneeze. As stocks run low, manufacturers and retailers have found the perfect antidote to recession. Here’s how money is being made (legally) out of an epidemic: * Pharma companies Roche is raking it in big-time, but others aren’t doing too badly either. Vitamins and paracetamols are in demand. Makers of anti-bacterial and alcoholic hand gels and wipes (for instance, Reckitt Benckiser) and suppliers of swine flu kits (like Religare) are running to keep up with demand. Ever since India’s first recorded H1N1 death, Religare alone has sold over 200 kits worth Rs 500 each, a jump from the 700 that it sold over the last three months. With the Centre set to lift the ban on production and sale of the anti-H1N1 oseltamivir drug (by companies other than Roche, which has the licence for the Tamiflu brand), desi manufacturers like Cipla, Ranbaxy and Hetero Drugs are preparing to launch more affordable, generic versions of the drug. Cipla’s joint managing director Amar Lulla told TOI: “In the past, the production of flu vaccines was almost unprofitable and most companies producing such vaccines had pulled out of the US. This time round the scene could be just the opposite. We are awaiting the government’s call for local producers to supply the drug,’’ Lulla told TOI. Ramesh Adige, president of Ranbaxy said: “Ranbaxy produces the generic equivalent of Tamiflu, the API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) oseltamivir and formulations. If required, Ranbaxy can provide close to a million capsules in the next few weeks to the Indian market. Then, there’s the stampede to develop a vaccine for swine flu (oseltamivir is curative while a vaccine would be preventive). Industry estimates suggest that multinationals in the fray for making the swine flu vaccine, like Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, amongst a host of others, are expected to charge around $6 (approximately Rs 288) per dose although it shouldn’t cost more than $1 (Rs 48) per dose to produce it. Pharma companies will tell you it costs billions to develop a vaccine. * Chemists Meanwhile, Mumbaikars are turning to chemists to buy masks for protection, as also products useful for maintaining general hygiene. “Many corporates have placed huge orders — to the tune of 1,000 — N95 masks. We are unable to meet the demand,’’ said P Ferzandi, owner of Byculla Pharmacy. “The N95 masks, too, are out of stock. We’ve contacted three manufacturers, but none of them have stocks. They said they would have to import, which will take eight to ten days, at least. In the meantime, the price is being inflated,’’ said Prasad Danwe, general secretary, Retail and Dispensing Chemists Association. N95 and 99 masks are based on American standards. “We are in talks with Indian manufacturers who will provide us with two types of masks — the FFP1 and FFP2. We hope to make these available to consumers by Saturday at a cost between Rs 55 and Rs 60,’’ said Danwe. According to Damji Palan, owner of Laxmi Chemist, and also the president of Retail and Dispensing Chemists Association, Mumbai, sales of products like Dettol Liquid wash, Lifebuoy hand wash, Nilgiri oil, etc have picked up in the last two weeks. There is also a shortage of cough and cold medicines, and stocks of Meftal-P, the commonly used medication, are hard to get. People are also stocking up on cod liver oil to build up their immunity. Sources said that Universal Medicare, the company that markets Seacod, a cod liver oil capsule, has received many calls from consumers. Seacod has witnessed a growth of 40% in the April-July period this year vis-a-vis the same period last year. “We are promoting our brand as a product that builds resistance against cough and colds,’’ said the source. * Websites Even Indian websites on swine have witnessed heavy traffic on Tuesday. People from Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Delhi are clicking away for information. Sites with domain names dedicated to the flu in India like www.swinefluindia.com, and www.swineflu-india.org recorded the highest traffic yesterday. “We have seen an unprecedented growth in traffic on our site. We have received a lot of mails and our page rank on Google has improved drastically,’’ said a spokesperson of swinefluindia.com. * Consumer products The awareness generated in the last two weeks on the use of hand sanitisers, disposable tissues, alcohol-based disinfectants, etc has resulted in a growing demand for these products. It’s little wonder, then, that disinfectants and hand sanitisers are out of stock. The shortage of disinfectants has been compounded by individual customers buying up large quantities of stock. “On Monday, I managed to get a whole carton of protective hand wash, about 125 bottles. A customer came in and asked for 100 bottles and now my stock is over, ‘’ said Dinesh Patel, proprietor of a Cuffe Parade medical store. Another newly introduced category — skincare wipes — is also expected to cash in on the H1N1 epidemic. Launched a year ago, Kara wipes are yet to reach the inflection point. Its maker, Aditya Birla group is hopeful that companies will adopt wipes to keep their hands and face sanitised. Vijay Kaul, chief marketing officer, Grasim Industries (pulps and fibre) said, “We are working on a new promotional strategy to educate people about using Kara wipes, which contain anti-bacterial, Triclosan.’’ | ||
| ||
SOURCE
No comments:
Post a Comment