Lack of awareness, fewer patients and high cost of treatment poses a huge marketing challenge for pharma companies dealing with human growth hormone (HGH) in India.

According to The Indian Journal of Pediatrics, incidence of Growth Hormone Disorder (GHD) is around 1 in 4,000 to 1 in 10,000. Despite the challenge in terms of low incidence and high cost of the drug which is between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000, pharma majors are keen on the HGH promotion because of the profitability.

All HGH injection brands contain somatropin as the active pharma ingredient (API). The major companies in the segment are Novo Nordisk with its Norditropin NordiLet, Pfizer's drug is Genotropin, Eli Lilly's brand is Humatrope, Korea-based LG Chemicals' product is LG Eutropin Inj and Serum Institute of India imports Merck Serono's Saizen.

"There is a growing interest among Indian pharma companies to offer HGH. Bangalore-based biopharmaceutical start-up, Biovel Lifesciences has collaborated with Santiago-based Dowpharma for a technology transfer of Pfenex Expression to manufacture HGH and market its own brand in mid 2009. With this technology, Biovel will be the first company in India to produce HGH and market at an affordable price globally, stated Sudhakera Naidu, chairman and managing director, Biovel Lifesciences.

According to VR Kannan, pharma consultant, HGH is not in the category of mass consumption products and hence it will not be able to generate high sales. But companies are keen to enter the segment to expand product portfolio. Since HGH brands have the same API, companies resort to aggressive contact selling.

The available data on use of HGH is inadequate. There is no reference about this segment in the ORG report to assess the market size in India. Current scenario indicates that there is poor knowledge about the disorder among parents. Another situation is that endocrinology and paediatric endocrinology are lesser known specialties known to treat short stature conditions, stated industry sources.

Though the prevalence of GHD in India is on the rise, education on its symptoms and implications among both children and adults are dismally low. Even the doctors in the country lack adequate knowledge on the condition, Dr. Shaila S. Bhattacharyya, Consultant Pediatrician & Pediatric Endocrinologist, Manipal Hospital, Bangalore reports in her presentation on Growth Hormone Deficiency - The long and 'short' of it.

There is a need to create a massive awareness about the GHD caused because of poor functioning of the pituitary gland and the treatment availability in the country. It is also important to highlight the need for early diagnosis and treatment which will make it cost effective for patients. Parents need to observe short stature conditions in children and approach doctors when a child is 5 years. Treatment is continued till puberty. Approximately 90 per cent patients catch-up growth during the first year. About half of these patients eventually reach normal predicted adult height, she added.