The Himalaya Drug Company's Liv 52, which is one of its flagship products is the top selling drug in the country in value terms. The product has a market share of close to 35 per cent. Currently, it is an Rs 107 crore brand and has registered 28.68 per cent growth over the previous year. While the hepato-protective market, is valued at over Rs. 300 crore and growing at 12 per cent, Liv 52 alone is growing at 28.68 per cent.

Early this year, the product was ranked No 5 in the top 10 best selling pharmaceutical products in India.

According to ORG IMS' 2007 sales figures, for the first time, an ayurvedic drug, Liv-52, has become the top selling drug in the country in value terms. The liver tonic has registered the highest sales by value, toppling traditional chemical-based best-sellers of domestic and global pharma majors such as Pfizer's Corex, Nicholas Piramal's Phensedyl and last month's best-seller Novartis' pain-killer drug Voveran. Ayurveda-based drugs are nowhere in the top pharma sales index, and Liv-52 is the lone representation in the country's Top 30 drugs list.

Liv 52 was the only herbal pharmaceutical product in this list, attesting to the efficacy of scientifically researched herbal drugs. The product was also the uncontested leader in the hepato-protective (liver disorders) segment," stated Philipe Haydon, COO, Pharmaceutical Division, The Himalaya Drug Company.

Developed in the 1950s, Liv 52 continues to be top selling medicine in India and is becoming increasingly popular amongst the medical fraternity internationally.

In UAE, where it is promoted as a prescription drug, it ranks second among hepato-protective group with a 20 per cent market share. In Russia, the product is prescribed as an adjuvant in the TB regimen and has successfully proved its efficacy through clinical studies conducted in leading Russian hospitals. In fact, Liv 52 has over 200 clinical research papers backing it, stated Haydon.

Studies on Liv 52 have been published in leading journals like the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, HerbalGram (USA) and The Asian Medical Journal.

"Liv. 52 has been one of our primary growth drivers from the time of its launch and today it contributes to approx. 35-40 per cent of revenues of pharma division. This has been a steady contribution of the product over the years and we can only see it growing. For a product that was launched over 50 years ago- it has defied all product cycles in terms of its success in the market," he said.

Today, Liv 52 is registered in over 25 countries with one billion tablets and 13 million syrup bottles being sold every year across the globe. It has become a trusted treatment for liver care and is one of our flagship products," stated Haydon.