Zydus Cadila will launch the tadalafin molecule under the brand name of Zyalis soon, according to Ashok Bhatia, senior vice-president (marketing) of the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd.

He was speaking to the press about Cadila’s recently launched Etoricoxib-based tablets under the ‘Nucoxia’ brand. ‘Nucoxia’ sells for Rs 100 per strip of 20 mg tablets in all metros and Cadila has roped in leading doctors to speak and promote the product, which the company claims "has the fastest onset of action with a countdown of just 23 minutes to freedom from pain".

Incidentally, Cadila has reverse-engineered a molecule discovered by Merck and launched it in India. It is learnt that Merck has not launched the molecule in India.

"In fact, all the big daddies of the Indian pharmaceutical industry like Sun Pharma, NPIL and Ranbaxy are set to launch brands based on Etoricoxib very soon. We just got there first," according to Ashok Bhatia, senior vice-president (marketing) of the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd.

Etoricoxib is supposed to be a second-generation drug among Cox II inhibitors, which has been used increasingly in the treatment of acute and chronic pain. The company also claims that Cox II inhibitors, because of their selective action are preferred over the other analgesics such as Ibuprofen, Indomethacin, Naproxen etc.

Cadila estimates the pain reliever market in India to be around Rs 200 crore. The company has targeted a return of Rs 5.50 crore in the first 12 months. It does not feel that its marketing budget will rise because of the impending launches of the same molecule by other companies, that too, in the pain reliever segment.

"We are not really concerned about the cost of marketing, because we already have a lot of goodwill from doctors in the pain reliever segment. We also have a very efficient field network, which we hope to leverage," Bhatia said.

A survey conducted amongst 3000 orthopaedicians across the country by Zydus Cadila revealed that there was a need for a pain relieving therapy, which combines the efficacy of a conventional non-stroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDS) and the safety of the Coxibs.

Nucoxia, with its safety profile and efficacy is aimed at plugging this gap. The drug can be prescribed for a broad range of acute and chronic indications such as post-operative pain, musculoskeletal pain, acute gouty arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.