Cipla In The News - Archives Year - 2003
  
 
 
 
 

(By Soutik Biswas, BBC News Online, Wednesday, October 29, 2003)
Indian drugs boss hails AIDS deal
Three years ago Yusuf K Hamied, head of Indian drugs company Cipla, stunned a European Commission medical meeting in Brussels by offering to sell anti-AIDS drugs at a fraction of the going rate.

Dr Yusuf Hamied makes some of the cheapest AIDS drugs in the world

 

 

 
He announced that he could sell a three-drug anti-retroviral combination for around $800 per patient per year.

Big brand-name pharmaceutical companies were then selling their AIDS drugs at $12,000 per patient per year.

The following year, in 2001, Dr Hamied declared he was ready to sell the drugs even more cheaply - at about $300 per patient per year.

Last week, Dr Hamied won a major victory when former US president Bill Clinton brokered a deal whereby four companies making cheap, generic AIDS drugs could begin supplying to millions of people in developing countries.

One of them is Cipla, India's third largest drug company.

It is now offering to sell a three-drug anti-AIDS cocktail for $140 per patient per year "subject to some conditions".


'Generic drugs are now respectable'

The generic drug company, set up by Dr Hamied's father in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1935, makes some 800 drugs - 20 of them anti-AIDS ones - and exports to around 140 countries.

It is legal in India to copy a drug designed abroad and sell it in the market - as long as the company can prove that it used a different manufacturing process.

Dr Hamied says the Clinton Foundation's endeavor has given a greatly-needed shot in the arm to generic drugs.

"Generic drug companies, especially from India, have now got respectability, quality and trust," he told BBC News Online from Frankfurt where he was attending a pharmaceutical fair.

"Multinationals have been running us down for years. Now there's international recognition of our quality and service."

Last year Cipla won the approval of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to market the Aids drugs whenever local governments allow their sale.

'Pushy drug dealer'

The Cambridge-educated Dr Hamied, 67, has been described as a "pushy drug dealer" and a "generic drugs maverick".

He feels that his three-year battle for cheaper AIDS drugs for poorer nations has had a multiplier effect.

"The fact that the MNCs have reduced prices [of their AIDS drugs] from $12,000 to three to four times the present prices of generic companies proves that their conscience has been pricked," says Dr Hamied.

"Remember, most of the AIDS drugs were not originally invented by these companies - they are mostly in-license products."

But offering to supply cheap AIDS drugs is only half the battle.

Mr. Clinton hopes that under his foundation's scheme up to two million people will have received the cut-price drugs by 2008.

But Dr Hamied says governments around the world need to take major initiatives to fund the purchase of cheaper drugs.

"It just does not start and finish with the supply of drugs. There's medicare and continuing tests that cost money," he said.

Free offerings

"Supplying cheap drugs in isolation will not solve the problem."

He singled out the governments of Brazil and Uganda as being pro-active in controlling the spread of the disease in their countries.

Cipla has registered its anti-AIDS drugs in 65 countries, and is already supplying to 59 of them.

The company already supplies one drug - to stop mother-to-child transmission - free of charge.

Cipla has also offered free technology to make anti-AIDS drugs "to state-owned companies in all Third World countries", says Dr Hamied.

But he is not very happy with the way the Indian Government has moved to tackle AIDS.

India has an estimated four million cases of HIV.

Dr Hamied wants lower duties on imported raw materials for the drugs, government distribution and slashing of local taxes to make the drugs still cheaper.

"We need more action than words in India today," said Dr Hamied.
"Multinationals have been running us down for years. Now there's international recognition of our quality and service"

Dr Yusuf Hamied

 

 

 

 

 

WHO hopes cheap drugs will reach three million AIDS patients by 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Hamied says this AIDS drug can be sold at $140 per patient per year
(THE ECONOMIC TIMES, Mumbai, Thursday, September 11, 2003)
 Cipla in talk for 2 more alliances with US cos
Our Mumbai Bureau, 10 September

Drug maker Cipla is in the process of finalising two more strategic alliances with US generic companies, after which, it will have a total of five alliances for the US market. This was revealed to shareholders at the company's AGM, by Y. K. Hamied, chairman and managing director of Cipla.

The company is optimistic about the regulated market and has lined up a slew of generics for these markets. "We plan to file a total of 90 DMFs (drug master files) in the near future, of which 40 will be filed during the next 12 months," Mr Hamied said.

Cipla has already filed 11 abbreviated new drug appliances (ANDAs) in the US market. A few of the generics for which the company has an alliance with US generic manufacturer Watson, will enjoy exclusivity for a limited period. The company has filed 185 applications for the European markets. The company has faced certain setbacks because of legal issues. "Rulings in several patent litigation went against some of our customers in the US, Europe and Canada. This had a negative impact on our exporters, " Mr. Hamied said.


He added that though legal problems associated with patent protection represent a major challenge for the international generic drug industry. Cipla's interests are safe because the company has alliances in all overseas markets.

Responding to shareholders' queries on recent, developments relating to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). Mr Hamied said Cipla will deposit Rs 103.6 crore with the NPPA shortly, which amounts to 50% of the claim raised by NPPA in areas for overcharging on its drugs. He added that the company had limited borrowings and sufficient liquidity to address emergencies.
The Third Express Pharma Pulse Awards
 


Cipla has hit the headlines time and again for being one of the pioneers of the Indian pharmaceutical industry

From a rented bungalow in 1935 to a sprawling 50,000 square meters premise in central Mumbai; from being a supplier of fine chemicals during World War II to breakthrough in chiral chemistry; Cipla has hit the headlines time and again for being one of the pioneers of the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Known for its manufacturing prowess and marketing acumen, Cipla's contribution to the growth of the Indian pharmaceutical industry has been significant.

Cipla has emerged as a strong contender in the Group A the 3rd Express Pharma Pulse Awards in the overall performance category along with Zydus Cadila. The company has scored on all the six parameters -sales, market share, growth, number of new products introduced, contributions of the new products to the turnover and exports -stipulated to shortlist the contenders. The company, according to IMS Health, achieved formulation sales of Rs 885 crore for the 12-month period ending December 2002, which translated into 4.91 per cent market share. Compared to last year, sales grew by 24.3 per cent. Cipla launched the highest number of new products (138) in 2002 and together they contributed 10 per cent to the sales.

Manufacturing and R&D have always been the core strength of Cipla. These two would continue to remain core strengths in future too considering the kind of investments that have been made. At a time when outsourcing is a norm in the drug industry, Cipla is creating new capacities. The company has placed bulk and manufacturing units in five strategic locations of Mumbai, Goa, Pune and Bangalore. The next step is to get these facilities accredited by international regulatory agencies. The company is running US FDA audits at its newly built formulations unit in Goa.

Banking on its strengths in formulations development and manufacturing, Cipla has entered into a string of supply contracts with generic companies in the US and Europe. The company currently exports to around 140 countries.

The bulk of the export sales come from the US (41 per cent) and Europe (24 per cent). Middle East and Africa account for another 24 per cent. Besides, it is also a major exporter of technology. Cipla technology is presently sold to companies in Canada, Germany, UK, and USA, among others.

On the new drug discovery front, Cipla is comparatively quieter. There are no grandiose announcements. Research is mainly focused on NDDS such as sustained and modified dosage forms, transdermal, inhalation, nasal, rectal and topical delivery forms, and CFC-free metered dose inhalers. On NCE front, the company is working on antifungals, antihistamines and anti-HIV. The company recorded total sales of Rs 1,570 crore and a net profit of Rs 262 crore for the 12-month period ending December 2002.



S Radhakrishnan, Finance Director, Cipla Ltd receiving award in Group A
(The Economics Times, Mumbai, Sunday, January 18, 2003)
EXPORTS FALL ON PRILOSEC WOES
CIPLA Q3 net up 6% to Rs 66 Cr
 
Mumbai
The net profit of Cipla, India's second-largest drug maker by market share, grew 6% to Rs 66.46 crore in the third quarter of 2002-03 as lower exports dragged down overall sales growth. Net sales rose just 5.4% during the quarter to 387 crore. But the Mumbai based drug maker shored up margins by controlling cost and improving efficiencies.

During the quarter, exports fell 10% to Rs 123 crore as the company stopped supplying the generic version of ulcer drug Prilosec to its American marketing partner Andrx.

Last year, Andrx lost a crucial patent litigation on generic Prilosec to the drug's patent holder AstraZeneca.

Cipla had commenced supplies to Andrx before the verdict and hence saw export sales dip in this quarter over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Analysts said some export orders for other bulk drugs had also been discontinued.

Cipla`s domestic sales bettered the market, growing by 16% during the quarter to Rs 264 crore. The overall market grew by under 10%.
In the first nine months of the year, the company's net sales rose 17.5% to Rs 1184.3 crore while net profit during this period rose 20% to Rs 200.75 crore.
(Financial Express, Mumbai, Sunday, January 18, 2003)
CIPLA Q3 net up 6% to Rs 66 Cr
OUR CORPORATE BUREAU
 

Mumbai, Jan 18

Cipla Ltd had posted a 6.1 percent increase in net profit to Rs 66.46 crore for the third quarter (Q3) ended December 31, 2002 as compared to Rs 62.65 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The company informed the BSE that its net sales grew by about three percent to Rs 392.87 crore from Rs 381.5 crore last year.

During the quarter under review, operating margin improved to 24.49 percent from 23.83 percent last year. However, net margins remained more or less the same at 17.17 percent as compared to 17.10 last year.

The improvement in operating margins is attributed to the disease in raw material consumption cost as percent age of net sales, analysts said.