Crocin 1000, a brand of GlaxoSmithKline Beecham with great expectations, has failed in Karnataka market because of extremely poor sales. The reason attributed for the product to go off the shelf in the state is the therapeutic irrationality and the strength of the brand in comparison with drugs like Aventis' Arava, Torrent's Lefra and Tylenol prescribed for conditions related to osteoarthritis, rheumatic arthritis and various musculoskeletal conditions.

V Hari Krishnan, president, Bangalore District Druggists and Chemists Association said that in the last 15 months, there has been no distribution of the product in the State. "It could be due to the poor relief for the patients who were prescribed the drug," he said.

The retail outlets in Bangalore used to stock between 5 to 30 bottles of the Crocin 1000 between mid-2001 to early 2002, informed sources from the Karnataka Chemists and Druggists Association and added that the stocks gradually went off the shelf because of lack of demand.

A panel of doctors from the departments of orthopedics in leading hospitals in Bangalore told Pharmabiz.com that soon after the launch of Crocin 1000 in 2001, the company convinced the medical specialists on the efficacy but failed to caution conditions of liver damage if dosage was increased. The drug was prescribed to osteoarthritis cases, but it did not provide any relief compared to the other brands in the market," they said. General practitioners have been prescribing Crocin 1000 for severe headache, toothache and muscle pain. It was observed that a frequent intake of the drug was producing side effects like acidity.

R S Iyer, pharma analyst and former head of quality control for companies like the erstwhile Parke Davis, Glaxo Pharmaceuticals said that Crocin 1000 being a single ingredient cannot be compared to multi-ingredients brands in the market which could have been the reasons for failure of the product.

Industry sources on condition of anonymity said that the introduction of Crocin 1000 was unnecessary. It was only gimmick by GSK to attack the competitive and over crowed anti inflammatory drug market which is currently valued at Rs. 800 crore. The main problem with Crocin 1000 has been that even if it provided relief, the paracetamol contents are documented by medical practitioners to have caused nephro-toxicity in patients over a period of time if they are addicted to the drug to get relief when in pain," they averred.