Tag: Mr. Nikkhil K Masurkar

Business

Indian Pharmaceutical Market Grew by 6.1% in Nov’21; Growth of the Non-COVID drugs improved month-on-month, says Executive Director of ENTOD, Nikkhil K Masurkar

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Anjula Masurkar, #Indian pharmaceutical industry, #Mr. Nikkhil K Masurkar, #pharmaceutical industry, #Pharmaceutical Market

Over the last 2 decades, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has witnessed 10 times growth owing to its strength in the global generics market. The domestic pharmaceutical market turnover in the country reached INR 1.4 lakh crores in 2019, up from INR 1.29 lakh crores in 2018, as per government data. It is the largest provider of generic medicines around the world, occupying a 20 per cent share in global supply by volume, and also supplies 62 per cent of global demand for vaccines.

While the COVID-19 pandemic handicapped economies and industries worldwide, the pharmaceutical industry in India witnessed an upsurge. The pharmaceutical industry also faced some setbacks as the manufacturing, supply chain, and import of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) were affected, but the sector handled the challenges well and rebounded again with help from favourable policies from the government.

Mr. Nikkhil K Masurkar, Executive Director of ENTOD Pharmaceuticals.

“The pandemic has pushed up sales of medicines and resulted in exponential growth for the pharmaceutical sector. The Indian pharma market (IPM) grew 6.1% during November led by continued traction in the chronic segment. The acute segment also grew on a low base of last year. COVID therapy drugs that contributed to the pharma market growth during the first half of the year continued to add to the rise. Non-COVID drugs sales grew 6.7% year-on-year during November, surpassing the 6.3% sales growth of COVID drugs. Also, all major therapies posted high double-digit growth on April 21. Within Chronic therapies, Cardiac therapy grew 22 per cent. Similarly, Anti-diabetic therapy grew 10 per cent. VMS (vitamins, minerals and supplements) posted a record growth of 80 per cent in April 21 vs 27 per cent in March 21. In the acute therapies, gastro, respiratory and pain & analgesics grew 13.1% YoY, 16.3% YoY and 17.3% YoY, respectively. Growth in volume terms, however, remained flat year-on-year during November. It was the 5.4% rise in prices and new product launches, driven by acute therapy products, that helped the IPM grow in the month.” said Mr. Nikkhil K Masurkar, Executive Director of ENTOD Pharmaceuticals.

Indian pharmaceutical exports reached US$20.7 billion in FY207 with year-on-year growth of 8.4%. It has grown at a CAGR of 6.2% between 2015 and 2020. This was largely driven by exports of generic drugs to more than 200 countries (including both developed and developing markets). India is the source of 60,000 generic brands across 60 therapeutic categories. The country accounts for 40% of the generics demand in the US and ~25% of all medicines in the UK. India also fulfils about 80% of global demand for antiretroviral drugs for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), significantly contributing towards increasing accessibility of AIDS treatments. That said, due to its position as the global supplier of innovative medicines, it becomes imperative for India’s pharmaceutical industry to explore new possibilities to consolidate and strengthen its positioning and expand in the post-pandemic world.

Ms Anjula Masurkar, Clinical Director, Entod

“Most Indian pharma companies reported resilient operating performance in FY21, benefitting from diversification and sales of pandemic-related drugs. Indian pharmaceutical companies’ sales will grow robustly in the financial year ending March 2022 (FY22) as sales normalise in categories affected by the pandemic in the previous year. Sales of drugs used to treat acute medical conditions and elective procedures will continue to recover in FY22. While the risk of further waves of infection remains significant but healthcare systems are better prepared after the second wave, which should limit the impact. Revenue in key markets, including the US and Europe, will also benefit from a healthy pipeline of generic drugs and further progress in launches of speciality drugs by larger companies. This should help to offset the effects of continued price erosion. Costs are expected to rise to normal levels in FY22 as companies step up marketing and R&D activities. However, higher sales will cushion the impact on margins” said Ms. Anjula Masurkar, Clinical Director, Entod Pharmaceuticals.

“To reach that target from the current $42 billion, the Indian pharmaceutical industry will require to double the last decade’s growth rate of 6% to 12%. In order to sustain and build on the good work India has done in the past, the Indian pharmaceutical industry needs to focus on emerging growth areas to move up the value chain. To move up the value chain, India has opportunities in complex generics, speciality pharma, biosimilars and novel biological drugs, vaccines and preventives, and other areas of unmet needs. There is also huge potential to establish the country as the global innovation hub of the future. To achieve future potential, India needs to establish an entire ecosystem of innovation that brings together the academia/research institutions, big pharmaceutical companies and startups/entrepreneurs, medical institutions/hospitals” added Mr. Masurkar.

Mr Nikkhil K Masurkar, Executive Director, ENTOD Pharmaceutical
Business

National Eye Donation Fortnight: India sees sharp drop in corneal transplant by 52% during COVID-19

Sep 8, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Dr Rakesh Shah, #EBAI Chairperson - West Zone & Ophthalmologist / Eye Surgeon, #ENTOD Pharmaceuticals, #Executive Director, #Mr. Nikkhil K Masurkar

Delhi- According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) approximately 15 million people in India are blind, out of the 45 million people across the world. Also, the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) estimates that every year around 25,000-30,000 new cases of corneal blindness occur in India. Blindness is a major health concern for India and its prevalence is further exacerbated by low availability of eye donors. In most cases, corneal blindness is curable with corneal transplantation.

Corneal transplant, a surgical procedure to replace part of your cornea with corneal tissue from a donor, has reduced by approximately 52% during COVID-19 pandemic. When the COVID-19 outbreak began last year in March 2020, corneal tissue retrieval was temporarily halted, putting corneal transplants on hold. According to EBAI (Eye Bank Association of India), the number of corneal transplants has reduced to 12,998 between April 2020 to March 2021, while 27,075 corneal transplants were conducted in the previous year.

India requires a minimum of two lakh eye donations annually however, the present number stands at a meagre 45,000. Supporting the National Eye Donation Fortnight which is observed from 25th August to 8thSeptember every year, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals is organising a series of activities across India to create about the importance of eye donation and to motivate people to donate their eyes after death.

ENTOD Pharmaceuticals, one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in the Ophthalmic ENT segments across India and other countries has created an online website https://www.pledgemyeyes.org/in collaboration with the Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI). Through this website anyone can pledge their eyes from the comfort of their home in just 2 simple steps and make a visually impaired person’s life brighter.

Supporting the cause, Mr Nikkhil K Masurkar, Executive Director, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals, said, “Eyes donated by a person can help restore vision in 2 corneal blind people. Lack of awareness and myths associated with eye donation prevents people from donating their eyes.Any person can donate their eyes irrespective of sex, age, religion or blood group. Therefore,on the occasion of the National Eye Donation Fortnight, we urge people to come forward and pledge their eyes. Out of 15 million blind people in India, 6.8 million have corneal blindness, with vision less than 6/60 in either of the eyes. Near about 1 million people are blind in both eyes, and this bilateral corneal blindness can be reversed. Eye donation usually takes place only after the person is deceased, and with the consent of the family, so it is important that not only the person pledging the eyes is aware of its importance but the entire family is educated about the needs to do the same too.”

“In India there are almost 70 lakh patients suffering from corneal disease, 12 lakh patients require corneal transplant and 2 lakh are suffering from corneal blindness in both the eyes, so immediate corneal transplant is required for them. In India, before covid, we used to get around 55-60 thousand eye donations and we successfully completed 30-35 thousand corneal transplants. Every year 35-40 thousands new patients suffer from the same issue. Our goal is to achieve at least 1 lakh eye donations per years, so that more corneal transplants can be done, around 50-60 thousand. India can do better in this and have the potential to lead the entire South Asia. We need to encourage and motivate the people in our society towards the importance of eye donation. If we all come together for this noble cause, then achieving1 lakh corneal transplant/harvesting is not that difficult.” explained Dr Rakesh Shah, EBAI Chairperson – West Zone & Ophthalmologist / Eye Surgeon.

To create increasing awareness and motivation of eye donation in India, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals has come up with a YouTube channel “EYEHealth” where eye donation appeal videos by prominent doctors are uploaded. The videos are also available in different languages so as to help people from different regions of the country gain knowledge about the significance of eye donation.

Dr Shah also informed that even when patients die of other ailments like heart disease, in non-Covid deaths, there are some suspicions on whether Covid infection is present in the cornea. RT-PCR testing takes time but we are on the side of caution. Number of corneal donation comes down to zero whenever a Covid wave peaks.

ENTOD is conducting two virtual program under the aegis of EBAI west zone on 3rd and 5th Sep’2021 for the general public to talk about eye health and emphasize on the need for everyone to donate their eyes.

cosmetic surgical equipment
Business, Health, News

ENTOD Pharmaceuticals Celebrates 44th Foundation Day; Plans Expansion into Medical Cosmetics and Ophthalmic Surgical Segments

Jul 12, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Executive Director of ENTOD, #Mr. Nikkhil K Masurkar

Mumbai, 11 July, 2021 – ENTOD Pharmaceuticals, an Indian international research-based pharmaceutical company with over four decades of pharmaceutical expertise in Ophthalmology, ENT and Dermatology medicine, will be celebrating its 44th Foundation Day on 11th July 2021. The company was founded in 1977 by G. V. Masurkar, a pharmacist and a visionary. With more than 1000 employees, it is one of the fastest-growing super-specialty pharma companies, which has its footprints across more than 55 countries around the world. With over 150-crore revenue in FY21, the company has seen a growth of 30-40% from last year even during the COVID pandemic. Not only that, but as many businesses were forced to reduce their employees’ salaries during the lockdown, ENTOD offered hope and support with no salary cuts at all. Furthermore, the pharma giant has plans of adding 100 employees to their workforce each month until September 2021.

While ENTOD has a victorious history of revolutionizing the pharmaceutical industry in India and more than 55 countries, their collaborations and plans are even more promising. The company has ventured into the market of medical cosmetics through a joint-venture with NuSkin London. NuSkin London is a research initiative of ENTOD Research Cell UK Ltd, to improve skin formulation research and create innovative dermatological solutions. The joint-venture is expected to help commercialise NuSkin London’s skincare & medical cosmetic innovations across the Indian sub-continent and international markets like Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and others. In addition to that, they also have projects in motion to expand in the ophthalmic surgical segment by launching their HyTek Division, which will deal with surgical products. Their expansion in the ophthalmic surgical segment will be supported by their state-of-the-art DSIR approved laboratory and FDA-approved international R&D centres, along with their affiliation to 50+ ophthalmic societies (including many international societies like WSPOS, WGA, ISMSICS, etc.).

Speaking about the latest development and expansion plans, Executive Director of ENTOD, Mr. Nikkhil K Masurkar said “We have strong ties with a variety of research institutes and centres, research centres, and other pharmaceutical firms, giving us access to cutting-edge technology and research results, as well as allowing us to work collaboratively. We effectively operate a global network of highly specialized Formulation R&D centres and labs, which we offer to numerous pharmaceutical firms across the globe. We’ve also worked on developing new and safer speciality preservatives and excipients for the ophthalmic pharmaceutical sector. Over the next 2-3 years, we are also planning to venture into the surgical products sector that would further enable us to establish our presence across the domestic and international markets.”

With innovative and research-driven ophthalmic and ENT products, ENTOD has been facilitating rapid advances in the segment. Their Phenocaine Plus Intracameral Mydiatric injection helps to achieve rapid and stable pupillary dilatation without using preoperative dilating eye drops and sustained intraocular anaesthesia for pain-free surgery and better surgical outcomes. Other than that, their research team has come up with an innovative micronized ocular suspension technology that offers better formulation stability, greater bioavailability, more precise dosing and reduced ocular irritation. They have also introduced NOVELIA preservative-free eye drop technology by tying up with a pharmaceutical giant, NEMERA (France).

With 40+ years of specialized experience in product research and production, ENTOD has risen from strength to strength under the leadership of the Masurkar family and is now one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical businesses in the country. “I take great pride in what we have been able to accomplish over the last 4 decades. Our growth is proof that our employees’ exceptional work has been recognized. We have been on the cutting edge for more than 40 years and counting. Backed up by our modern facilities and an efficient team of clinicians and researchers, we look forward to accelerating the development of innovative approaches in the areas of ophthalmic, ENT & Dermatology that would enable better diagnosis and treatment of the patients” added Mr. Masurkar.