Glenmark generics for heart failure drug to lower cost by up to 126%

Pharmaceutical major Glenmark on January 17 announced the launch of generic version of the blockbuster heart failure drug Vymada by Novartis which will bring down its cost by 61-126 percent based on different dose strength.

Vymada, which is going off-patent this month, is a combination of sacubitril and valsartan, indicated to reduce the risk of cardiovascular related deaths and hospitalisations for patients with chronic heart failure (NYHA class II-IV) with reduced ejection fraction.

The drug by Glenmark, under the brand name Sacu VTM, has been priced at Rs 19 per tablet for a dose of 50mg , Rs 35 per tablet for a dose of 100mg and Rs 45 per tablet for a dose of 200mg. Novartis sells the 100 mg drug at Rs 85 per tablet.

According to IQVIA sales data for the 12 months ending December 2022, the total cardiology market is estimated to be Rs 20,730 crore, with an annual growth of 7.7 percent against the corresponding period last year. The market of this particular drug, on the other hand, is estimated to be Rs 514 crore with an annual growth of 37.2 percent.