The recent launch of Lizomed (linezolid 600mg tablets) by Mumbai-based Aglowmed Ltd has stirred up the competition in the country's Linezolid market. Outside market sources have told Pharmabiz.com that the low pricing of Aglowmed's Lizomed is forcing players like Unichem to slash the price of its product by 25 per cent. According to them, slashing of price by one company will lead others to follow suit, thereby bringing down the overall market price of the product.
Lizomed is currently priced at Rs. 248.10 per a strip of 4 tablets while other brands like Lizolid [Glenmark Pharma], Linox [Unichem], Linid [Cadila Healthcare] and Lizbid [Sarabhai] are being sold in the market at over Rs. 400 per strip of 4 tablets.
When contacted, a senior official in Unichem said, "For the time being, there are no plans to cut our Linezolid price." However Glen Saldanha MD & CEO, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said that in future the prices of Linezolid brands are bound to come down.
Linezolid, the first of the novel class of antibacterial Oxazolidinones, has been showing promising results in treating the hospital and community acquired infections caused by gram-positive bacteria. This is the new class of antibacterial drug in last 35 years (earlier being quinolones).
The current market size for the product is Rs. 3.93 crore and is growing at the rate of 569 per cent as per ORG February 2003 MAT.
Linezolid is a product patented by its inventor Pharmacia Upjohn. Aglowmed officials claim that the patent is likely to expire by 2015 as the FDA granted the patent to the inventor only in 2015. Glenmark Pharma was the first company to launch the Linezolid in India in December 2001.
The drug companies source the bulk Linezolid from companies like Hetero Drugs, Glemmark Pharmaceuticals and Aurobindo Pharma at a price of about Rs. 40,000 per kg.
"Since it a course of two tablets per day for 14 days, patient put on Lizomed (Aglowmed's brand) is likely to save about Rs. 1,120 on a total course. Even though the infection does not limit to the wealthy, the usage of this drug has been limited to the upper-class patient population because of the cost of treatment," said T. Lakshmoji, senior product manager at Aglowmed Ltd.