Covid-19 has been a bane to many patients and their families, but nothing short of a huge boon to pharma companies.
The pandemic, which is now in its third year, has boosted the prospects of pharma industry goliaths and their smaller rivals alike, a closer look at their moving annual turnover (MAT) numbers showed by AWACS Pharmasofttech Pvt. Ltd’s data.
While big-wigs such as Sun Pharma, Zydus Cadila and Cipla gained by selling Covid-related drugs, smaller companies such as Aristo Pharmaceuticals and Alkem Laboratories benefitted from strong demand for immunity boosters and gastrointestinal medicines, analysts said.
“Alkem and Aristo did not launch any direct Covid drug but were into the allied drugs space which benefitted them,” Adbulkader Puranwala, VicePresident at Elara Capital, said.
“Zincovit (which helps to prevent vitamin and zinc deficiencies) has become a Rs 650 crore brand during Covid but prior to Covid, it was a Rs 200 crore brand. Even for Alkem, their Vitamin brand A to Z was a Rs 150 crore brand which turned out to be Rs 260 crore brand during the pandemic,” Puranwala pointed out.
Covid-19 was initially considered a respiratory disease, but the virus behind it can cause other issues in the human body and affect major organs including those that aid in digestion.
“Covid is definitely becoming a chronic disease and there is definitely a market, but in the long run, companies that look at the margin will benefit. There is a sizable opportunity in Covid which is why all these companies are benefitting,” said Amit Khurana, Head of Equities and Research at Dolat Capital.
Aristo, Alkem, Abbott, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Macleods all figure in the list of the top 10 companies in the Covid and Covid-related space, as per AWACS Pharmasofttech Pvt. Ltd’s MAT numbers.
Watch the latest DH Videos here:
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks