Pfizer plans to bring more global drugs to India

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer plans to introduce more drugs from its global portfolio in India, including injectables from the stable of Hospira which it had acquired last year.

Although the company sells most of its top 20 global products in India, it is looking to bring in a couple of drugs, the patents of which have expired, to the domestic market.

"Except for a couple of CNS (central nervous system) products and one pain product, we are not really missing a major portfolio. We are looking at couple of global products, though they have gone all off LOE (loss of exclusivity) to reintroduce them into India, we are also looking at that aspect of this juncture," Pfizer India Managing Director S Sridhar told analysts.

Out of all the top 20 global big products that Pfizer has, other than Lipitor and another two or three very small products, the company has all the portfolio in India, either in the name as such or in the local name, he said.

"So for example, I have got Lyrica which is a global product out here...Prevenar which is a global product out here. I have got Magnex, I have got Dolonex, these are Indian names of Pfizer's products," Sridhar added.

When asked about the company's plans to introduce products from Hospira, he said: "Hospira transaction is the opportunity for us to launch some sterile injectable in India. So that is also probably we are working on."

So it would not be a branded product, it would be a branded generic because Hospira is a generic company with branded generic but in the area of injectables, he said adding "so we are looking at those options also".

Last year, Pfizer had acquired Hospira in a USD 17 billion deal. At the time of acquisition, Pfizer had stated that it would have an expanded portfolio of sterile injectable pharmaceuticals, composed of Hospira's broad generic sterile injectables product line and it would create a leading global sterile injectables business.

The acquisition would also help in building a broad portfolio of biosimilars in Pfizer's therapeutic areas of strength through the addition of Hospira's portfolio that includes several marketed biosimilars.