That headline “Notevenonce.com” may confuse many. But its relevance cannot be understated. This is the name of a website that warns on the ill-effects of methamphetamine abuse. I picked this up from a Nat Geo documentary that was aired last week titled “The World’s Most Dangerous Drugs.”

An eye opener, Meth (commonly referred) was said to be 3.5 times more stronger than coccaine and is spreading fast since its very easy to manufacture.  Methamphetamine is an ingredient mostly used as a decongestant in medicines. The drug leads to dangerous after effects like hallucinations, delusions and even violent outburts.  

Knowing that even the most stringent US laws have not been able to restrict its spread, Meth may find some ready takers in India as well. Remember the rave party at Pune a few months ago and because of the fact that most coccaine users belonged to influential families, none were booked.

Meth can kill hundreds of our young people and a lot may be needed to be done to keep the killer drug at bay.

Markets across the world are unsettled due to recession fears in the US. But for the Indian drug industry perhaps it augurs well. How? Ajay Piramal of Nicholas Piramal says a US downturn will induce Big Pharma to look at nimble manufacturing bases to contain costs. 

His company is already benefitting from that trend. Today, Nicholas and Eli Lilly signed an agreement to develop a drug from the lab upto human experiments and that may fetch Nicholas close to a hundred million dollars over a few years, if successful.

On the generics front too, there may not be much of a problem in the US. Costs may be cut by US citizens for the luxuries or even high value consumer goods and not on life saving medicines. What may happen is that exorbitantly priced drug brands may suffer and the tendency to switch from those brands to generics may only increase if recessionary conditions last. Thats a positive for Indian generic makers.

Again, since the already wafer thin profit margins on generics cannot reduce further, Indian companies can be ready for any adversities that risk their current profits. Those, however, wanting to do a lot of branded generics to shore up their bottomlines may need to wisely market and price their specialities.

What about the peripheral generic players from India. Unichem chairman Dr Prakash Mody says he is advantaged. Being small, large retailers from the US are approaching the mid-sized and small companies for further price adavntage. And with less exposure to the US markets so far, the worst is behind them.

So, it appears that medicines can not just save patients, it works for the survival and growth of a few promoters too. It depends on which side of the world does the promoter stand!

Pfizer’s smoke cessation or anti-smoking drug Chantix or Champix (in Japan) will be in India very soon. Its success depends on how doctors take it forward. Remember, the recent controversy that broke on reports of the drug inducing depression or psychiatric symptoms in patients.

A few years ago when Glaxo launched a similar drug Zyban with much fanfare, it did not do very well in India. Glaxo had to eventually withdraw the product from the market.

Pfizer’s may be a different story. Its field force is known to be more committed and is also under severe pressure to perform from Pfizer headquarters. India is a fertile market and with thousands of smoking related diseases being detected, Chantix may work well.

But, the regulatory issues on the side-effects of the drug will finally determine how the drug fairs in India. Ofcourse, launch of possible Indian copycats will be there to smoke out Pfizer’s chances of creating a mega brand here.