Pharma index in focus, up 3.45% YTD: Indian Pharma Market growth catches pace in December

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Also read- Polycab India share price cracks 20% to hit lower circuit on reports of I-T raid The domestic pharma market has grown at a better pace of 9.2% year on year in December 2023, after a poor show of just 2.9% year-on-year growth in November 2023, said analysts at Elara Securities India private Ltd referring to data by Pharmatrac, a pharmaceuticals market research company. The Chronic segment of drugs continue to drive the growth in the Indian pharma market. The acute segment of drugs had seen tepid growth in November too, which is attributed to the seasonal factors.

In December 2023, the pick-up was led by Cardiac portfolio of drugs that saw a growth of 11.5% YoY. The Anti-infectives were up 10.3% Yoy,, Gastro-intestinal were up 10.0% YoY, Pain segment was up 10.2% YoY and Neurology was up 12.0% YoY). Anti-diabetics too saw decent growth of 8.9% YoY suggested data.

Oncology continued with its strong performance, up 13.7% YoY, but is a smaller part of the overall pie, said analysts at Elara. While currently the price hikes are driving growth, the volume growth over time is likely to catch pace, feel analysts. The volume growth picking up and price hike moderation will mean overall growth rate may not improve much.

Nevertheless, a double-digit growth rate remains a healthy growth rate for the pharma market. Also Read- Kalyani Steels share price hits 52-week high after winning ₹450-crore bid for Kamineni Steel assets Elara analysts expect marginal improvement in growth rate in CY24(FY25) and say that volume growth will likely pick up while price increase will likely moderate. They continue to believe that the organic growth expectations built into the pharma stocks (which as per them is in 11-14% range) will