Evening, everyone, and thank you for joining the call. In the room, we have our Managing Director, Mr. Bhushan Akshikar. Some of you have, some of you have interacted with Bhushan earlier. Also, we have our CFO, Juby Chandy. Without further ado, I'll hand it over to Bhushan, who will give you an introduction, and also after that, followed by the financial slide presentation by Juby. And post that, we will open up for questions. In the meantime, if some of you have any questions, kindly pose your questions in the chat box, and we will kind of respond at the end. Thank you so much. Over to you, Bhushan.
Thank you very much, Ransom. F irst of all, many thanks to each one of you for taking out time to be on this call. As you must have seen, in the results that were announced to the street on Friday last week, we just concluded Q1. But as we use the segue to talk about the financial numbers in a few minutes, I'll probably frame the context in the next five to six minutes, just to let you know what is it that has happened in Q1, which has allowed us to deliver the performance and the results that you've already seen.
As I said in the last call and the investor meetings that we had prior to this, on the left-hand side, if you can see on the slide, GSK India continues to be one of the most broadly diversified healthcare companies amongst multinationals and even otherwise. Operating at both ends of the spectrum in the form of preventive medicines and vaccines in the prevention area, and more importantly, with our general medicines portfolio. We continue to operate, as I said, at both ends with general medicines straddling anti-infectives, dermatology products which are used in the therapy areas like pain, vitamins, and our renewed efforts in respiratory. In the vaccines business, apart from the mainstay that we have in the self-pay pediatric vaccine market, we've also made strides.
So Q1 was the first full year that we completed, that's for our adult vaccination with the launch of shingles prevention. So that's where the portfolio is. If you look at where we remain anchored in terms of our strategic intent, it's all about growing and growing with a sharp focus. Clearly having strategies which are allowing us to make our big brands even bigger, and to be having to deliver that competitive performance for all those identified assets, both in general medicines as well as our vaccines portfolio. Continuing to innovate.
So some of our brands are, as I say, as young as 30 and 40 years, but we continue to bring innovations both in terms of life cycle management, as well as the kind of science that healthcare practitioners expect from a company like us. So that continues to be one of the other anchors in terms of innovation. And the third one is really having agility to not only test and learn, but to really, you know, quick start activities, especially given the fact that we are launched and a new category in the form of adult vaccination. Really learn a lot along the way, make those changes in a nimble-footed manner, to further improve the offerings.
Underpinning all of that is a culture where aligned with our global values, we, we, we do everything possible to have a culture where our people can thrive. Moving straight to the external performance and in terms of seeing how our competitive competitiveness has played out for Q1. This is all data for Q1, as, as you would see at the bottom. So for the general medicines portfolio, we've delivered in unit terms, you know, in line with the markets or Evolution Index in units, which is the closest that you, you would see to the metric of prescriptions, in terms of relation, is at 100.
But I think what's more reassuring is if you, if you look at across the board, we not only have volume EIs, but even after the impact that we saw exactly a year ago, of the NLEM on, on our portfolio, mitigated to a large extent, and that's, that will be taken up in terms of the-- how it played out in our financial performance. But just to give you a quick sense of the key brands that we have in our portfolio, across the portfolio, you would see, a healthy, evolution index in excess of 100. What is earmarked as, 91 is one of our key brands, which was the most impacted last year. But even on that one, the volume EIs have already up to almost 131, which tells you how significantly better we've done compared to the market.
The same story continues for our ped vaccine business. Over the last four successive quarters now, we've not only stabilized but grown that business to double-digit growth. And that's why if you look at the pediatric vaccine business, our unit Evolution Index is ahead of the market at 103. One of the significant things that we had done in Q4 of the last financial year was the transformation, including putting up a new omni channel strategy. And just to give you a flavor of what has really happened in the first quarter, we've clearly supplemented and complemented our face-to-face interactions with our healthcare practitioners with digital touchpoints.
Just to give you a sense of the kind of needle that we have swung, we have almost had a 20% jump in terms of the touchpoints that we have with healthcare practitioners, apart from the face-to-face interaction. So clearly, we're opening up several channels, apart from the face-to-face channel, that a rep goes and meets healthcare practitioner using digital ways and accelerating that digital adoption in terms of our interactions with these healthcare practitioners.
At an overall level, if you look at the number of healthcare practitioners that we've touched, we've almost automated 5 digital channels, including channels like emailers, WhatsApp, to reach out to all those consented physicians who are consented to be allowed to be reached by us, allowing us to have almost more than six, seven, 7.6 million digital touch points. Just a quick sense of what has changed in the first quarter for our pediatric vaccine business is a script, two-minute video that we want to show.
Ready, sir. Initiate launch.
We have a go for auto sequence start.
[Foreign language]
Fourteen months.
[Foreign language] seven vaccinations for 7-Star protection?
Uh-
[Foreign language]
Sir, launch.
One minute.
[Foreign language].
Seven vaccinations [Foreign language] 7-Star protection [Foreign language] Ab India Banega 7-S tar.
Thank you very much. So this was just an example of showing how we continue to innovate, to be already the leader in the pediatric vaccination, self-pay, private market. But we are opening up a whole new segment in the second year of vaccination with that campaign. Building on top of our foundation of pediatric vaccination, we continue to build new energy in creating the adult vaccination ecosystem. If you recall, I had talked in the last industrial meeting, the need to really build this category, given the demographic dividend that we have, in this nation. Our target addressable market continues to be in excess of almost, 12 million, Indians spread across those, 60 cities who can potentially benefit with shingles prevention.
So at all three arms, which means building a great ecosystem with healthcare practitioners, getting prevention as an equal part to treatment in the healthcare practitioners' routine with patients is an area. So clearly, we've had a 17% growth versus the last quarter. And more importantly, more and more healthcare practitioners continue to believe that va-shingles prevention and vaccination, therefore, is an important part across specialty. We continue to build on the consumer awareness campaigns through the digital awareness campaigns that we launched last year, and we almost have a reach of 55 million spread across all social digitalized other social platforms. The metric, the real metric is to have how many consumers have those conversations with the healthcare practitioners.
And now from almost zero base, we have almost 10% of those consumers based on the ATU panels that we have in place. Having that conversation with their healthcare practitioners, asking about shingles prevention and the next steps towards vaccination. As I said in the earlier two calls, also, building an ecosystem for adult vaccination is a strategic and a long-term, you know, approach, and with every month, every quarter, we are seeing progress being made there. Last but not the least, is in a country where we have almost nonexistent adult vaccination channels, we are also putting up partnership programs with the right partners, including hospitals, corporate chain clinics, with detailed joint business plans. So that's a quick update on the Shingrix launch over the last one year as we close out Q1.
We continue to use different platforms throughout the year to really bring about the importance of why it is necessary to prevent a painful condition like shingles. So this, just to give you a couple of examples in terms of how we've stayed relevant in the last quarter. With that, I think I will hand over on the financials to Juby.
Thank you, Bhushan. Listen to this. Okay, I'd just like to start by highlighting some of the quality of our growth in the revenue profile. As Bhushan highlighted in the last couple of quarters, you could see that there is an improved focus on where to play and how to play, and that you could see across the lines of our sales growth profile. So the overall growth around 10%, and the key brands where we put almost 80-90% of our resources, that's also growing around 10%. Specialty business, it's a small base. We have Nucala and Trelegy in that specialty business. These are the two new assets, which is growing almost 57%. So it's growing much faster than the bigger base business.
Vaccine, as you have seen, some of the new innovative marketing methods, we are trying to reach out to the doctors and to the patients, with increased consumer awareness or patient awareness. Vaccine business is growing around 8%, and Shingrix again, focus on how to drive adult immunization and the benefits of that through different GTM strategies. That's also helping us. Now, I'll spend a bit more time on EBITDA margins. EBITDA margins is something which, we've been talking about in the last two quarters. As we speak this quarter, we are talking about INR 229 for our EBITDA, which is 62% growth and 28% margin ratio. And this margin is almost 920 basis points, that is nine percentage points improved versus last year.
Last year, as you remember, we had the biggest impact on NLEM around the same time, and we've been impacted almost 9%-10% on our top line in terms of margins, and that was the quarter number last year. Over the last one year, we've taken many initiatives to improve upon that margin. For the last two, three quarters, we've been seeing consistent growth on the margins. This is on the backdrop of optimizing our price, negotiating on better raw material cost, and pricing. Productivity has improved, which means the head of medical reps, they are clocking more sales, and also optimizing our field force, and that is resulting in savings on this year end base. Overall, with multiple levers playing out, our margin profile has considerably improved to 28%, which is nine percentage points improved over last year.
The same trend we could see on PAT, profit after tax, and that's also growing close to 39%. The other key highlights of this quarter is almost 100% of our profits are converted to cash. We have a very healthy cash position. The cash position and working capital also has improved consistently over the last few quarters. Let's move to the next slide. So this slide gives you the flavor of how we have been progressing on our EBITDA margins over the last couple of quarters. We were lowest same time last year at 19%. There was some one-offs of roughly 2%, so underlying EBITDA margin, same time last year was around 20-21%.
From there, we have moved to 28%, and we are seeing a stabilization in our margin profile and complete impact on an EBITDA, which we have seen earlier last year, has been mitigated. As I highlighted, there are many initiatives we were rolling out during the last year, including our digital volume focus, cost containment, all are playing out there. So as we speak, we are at a very stabilized stage in terms of EBITDA margin, and most of the low-hanging fruits have been addressed, and you would see continuing to maintain this level of margin as we go ahead in the next part of the year. So with that, maybe, Bhushan, we can close the meeting, and we can take questions.
Sure. The last slide. So just to summarize, this was largely to talk about our Q1 performance, in terms of how we have set out, for the financial year, but more importantly, building on the momentum that we've already created over the last three quarters. And to summarize, therefore, in the medium to long term, our ambition continues to be able to touch the lives of a billion Indians, and that's, that's something that we are focused on.
As we celebrate our 100 years of operations, this year in November, the idea is really to ensure that we continue to deliver what we said, in terms of not only touching the lives of 1 billion Indians by growing in double digit, but more importantly, having new platforms of growth to drive, that growth, and most importantly, defend the competitive performance and continue to grow our base business profitably. So that's, I think that's the summary of what we had to share on this call, but I think the whole intent is to have, you know, answer your questions and have a, have a two-way conversation. So I think if we can open up the floor. Thank you, Bhushan. Moderator, we will now take questions.
For those of you on the call, kindly raise your hand and the moderator will unmute you so that you can ask a question. The other option is, for those of you who would not like to ask an audio question, you can also type your question in the Q&A chat box, and we will pick that up. We can have a first name. Moderator, over to you. Abhijeet, can you unmute?
Yes, I have requested.
Yeah, go ahead. Abhijeet, can we take the first question?
Yeah, hi. Good evening. Nikhil here from SIMPL.
Yes.
I am audible?
Yes, Mr. Nikhil, you are.
Yeah, just two questions. This one is on to Juby. Earlier, there was a difference between the standalone and consolidated numbers of around INR 30 crore, which is not visible this year. So is there a change in the subsidiary as a result, the differentiation is not there? Or is there some alignment, if you can just explain? Because otherwise, year-on-year numbers don't seem to be comparable.
Thank you. Thank you for the question. I, I think there's no change in the subsidiary. So the subsidiary has got only one main business, which is we sell albendazole to WHO . Roughly around 50-60 crore per annum sales we make to WH on albendazole business. Okay, so now there is a phasing impact, so this total number doesn't change over the full year, but this quarter it's been lower billing. So standalone may be the right benchmark to see for the quarter, but end of the year, towards the end of the year, you will see that full numbers coming through. So this quarter is a lower billing. That's why you're seeing that 2-3% delta when you see the consolidated growth profile, but that's only a phasing impact. That's just going to happen in the coming quarters.
Sure. Second question was on two of our specialty products. Globally, we've seen a label extension on Shingrix and Jemperli. If we have to... Now, what I understand, Shingrix, we've already launched, and we were planning to launch Jemperli and Zejula in India. If we have to launch with the extended label extension, do we need to do the whole trials and everything in from zero, or how does it work for us? And any timelines when we are looking at the launches?
So thank you very much for that question, Mr. Nikhil. Yes, we've already launched Shingrix, so for us, it doesn't really, you know, from the label that we already have. For Jemperli, yes, we have the marketing authorization, which as I said in the last call. And as we speak, we are in the final stages of what that go-to-market plan will look like in terms of commercializing Jemperli. We have data on only one indication, which is second line. Currently we are in talks with the regulatory agency in terms of what it would take.
Just to let you know, we have an ongoing clinical trial already, so India is a part of many global clinical trials, so some of that data might be able to use, if you were to push for the first line. That's where we stand as of now, but that doesn't have any bearing on our commercial ambition, at least to begin with, in terms of the launch phase.
Okay, sure. I'll come back in the queue. Thanks.
Thank you. We have time for any more questions. Kindly raise your hand so that we can then unmute you. The moderator can unmute you. Anyone who would like to ask a question, kindly raise your hand. You can also check whether there are questions in the chat box. If you have a question in the chat box, please type that. Please raise your hand if you would like to ask a question. Anyone else who would like to ask a question, kindly raise your hand. Bhushan and Juby will be happy to take your questions. Yeah, there's a question from Deepak: "Can you please outline the new launches for FY 2025?"
Sure. Thank you very much, Mr. Deepak. So, first and foremost, we continue to contemporize our portfolio just as we launched the new extensions for some of our big assets like Calpol.
Last year, we launched... If you, if you remember the last financial year, I had shown a couple of videos also. We launched the new versions of Calpol 650+, Calpol 500+ with the new Optizorb technology. So we continue to scout for opportunities to extend the life cycle with new launches for our existing assets, and that includes the Gen Meds portfolio. In terms of, pulling in from our innovation assets, I, I talked about it, the oncology assets. There are two oncology assets, namely Zejula and Jemperli. Currently, the indications are, gynecological malignancies, both ovarian and endometrial cancer. So those two, would, would go off, in this financial year.
Thank you, Bhushan. Any other questions, please type it in the chat box or please raise your hand. Can we expect the employee cost trend?
So there is a question from Vishal. Will the cost base remain the same now through the year? Is a question from Vishal Manchanda. Okay.
The answer is yes, but I think I will ask Juby to give some comments.
Yes, so I think the answer is yes. We are not having any new increased headcount having in the rest of the year, so which means the headcount run rate will remain same. As a percentage of sales, it will remain same.
Okay. The follow-on question from Vishal: "Can you give more color on Shingrix vaccine in terms of per unit price, growth prospects, and dementia trial?"
Sure. Who was asking?
Vishal. Follow-up question.
Okay. Thank you very much. No, that's Viraj. Sorry. Viraj, Viraj Mithani. I'm sorry. Yeah. Thank you very much for that question, Mr. Viraj Mithani. Yes, so as aligned with the global strategies, but more importantly, customized to the local needs, we have an India-specific pricing as I mentioned in the earlier calls as well. So we have an India-specific pricing for Shingrix.
But more importantly, you know, this two, two doses of Shingrix, vaccine, provides shingles prevention, and now we have data for almost 11, 12 years, which means if you have these two shots, you're protected for the next 11, 12 years, in terms of not having this painful condition of herpes zoster. In terms of giving you color, I think, performance-wise, we have been improving every single month. Even within the quarter, we have seen improvements. So typically now we are touching the lives of almost 7,000 patients every month in terms of preventing vaccines. Clearly, with every passing month, we are only gaining confidence as well as improving the ecosystem, to prevent the adult, to prevent, you know, these kind of preventable diseases in the adult population.
The third part of your question is about, I think, yes, there is a, a new clinical data available, which potentially, you know, makes a point about preventing dementia in a certain section, subsection of. Again, these are, these are not GSK-led clinical trials. So, you know, if you want more details, I can always ask our clinical team, our medical team, or our communications team to respond appropriately. But yes, there's been a couple of reports, including one that was published in the Nature journal, about potential prevention of dementia. In population that got, the Shingrix vaccine.
Thank you, Bhushan. The next question is from Gokul Maheshwari: Can you indicate the average price hikes taken in the non-NLEM portfolio, ex of vaccines?
The average price hike depends on the timing of the pricing we've taken in the previous years, so roughly it is 4%-5% on the non-NLEM portfolio.
Okay. Thank you, Juby.
But again, in a calendar year of,
Yeah
12-year, 12 months, so obviously it is, it's a blended average that is giving.
Yeah.
There might be some which might be lower.
That's right.
Great. The next one is from Tushar. Can you share the price volume data for mass medicines?
What exactly is price volume?
How much is price, and I think how much the volume is going?
Yeah. So roughly, the whole—like I said, 4%-5%, 4.5% if you take it as a price. Remaining is volume. So we are talking about 7% volume and 4%, 4.5% price, and a 0.5% mix decrease. That's how it is, the blended growth of 10%.
The next question is from Viraj Mithani. Color on Arexvy about launch in India, and what are the requirements for launch in India?
Thank you very much, Viraj. So as you would expect, all the products that are approved in the U.S. and the European Medicines Agency, which is the EMA, we still have to do clinical trials. The good news is that India, for within GSK, is an equally important location for doing clinical trials. So most of our assets now, we have almost 19 clinical trials happening from the global landscape in India. So the process remains the same. For Arexvy, we will still have to do a clinical trial, unless, of course, regulations change, otherwise. But we've already got the clearance from the subject expert committee.
The data is available in the public domain, on the website of regulatory agencies, and we should be kicking off the clinical trial for this asset.
This follow-on question is: When are you planning to launch Arexvy in India?
So it's a function of the clinical trial. So as I said, the trials have just got approved. The estimate is, as you see, within a, in any case, it takes about typically 18 months, at least, from the time we initiate the trials till launch. We will keep the regulators engaged and informed on the progress, so that we can get this innovative asset sooner than later.
Thank you, Bhushan. One more question is, any guidance on FY 2025 in terms of top line and bottom-line margin, top line growth and bottom-line margins?
So we don't typically give guidance for the full year, but we are expecting the same trend to continue for the rest of the quarter. So in terms of both on margins as well as sales growth.
I'll just give some more color to that. I think if you've seen our portfolio, we have, you know, this was Q1. Q1 is not typically the highest quarter for us, given the dependence of some of our portfolio on the seasonality. So we expect to continue the same momentum in Q2 and beyond. So that, that's probably aligned with what Juby just said.
Okay, anyone else wants to raise your hand, ask a question? We have about 10 minutes or so. Okay, Vishal, again, can you share a timeline around the launch of a, bepirovirsen, hepatitis B drug, and gepotidacin in uncomplicated UTI?
Thank you very much. So, the good news is. Is that Mr. Vishal Manchanda ?
Yes, yes.
Thank you very much for that question. So the good news is all the products, all the model assets that you mentioned, we are undergoing clinical trials in India. So bepirovirsen is currently undergoing the clinical trials in India with several centers, including some of the leading liver treatment centers in India. Now, potentially, as we all know, this can be the first functional cure for chronic hep B. So obviously there is being a part of the global clinical trial, this has to concurrently get approved elsewhere. And that's why we are, we are engaging with the regulators also, given the nature of this asset, we will ensure that we, we don't lose our time.
And the good news, as I said, this trial is a part of the global clinical trial, so as and when it is approved in the U.S. or other regulatory agencies, we should be in a position to launch sooner. But the trial will get over at the end of this year.
gepotidacin. gepotidacin in UTI.
Yeah, Gepo, I mean, not all clinical trials will be relevant. So Gepo, yes, we potentially have the approval, if you, if you wish. But clearly, given where we sit in the current treatment modalities, with some of... including what we already have in our portfolio, with, for example, with assets like cefuroxime, you might not find the best fit in terms of what assets we want to bring into India. So gepotidacin is a commercial decision, whether we will actually go ahead and launch it at the end of the day. But the other ones, whatever assets we think are relevant, and fit for purpose in terms of bringing, and serving the needs of Indian population, those are the ones that we will definitely accelerate. It was the third one.
24-valent pneumococcal vaccine in India.
Yeah, so yes, even the trials for what is called the MAPS is something on our radar, which is the sub, you know, because if you recall, we've had some great success. We continue to have our PCV asset available to prevent pneumonia. So the MAPS is the next one, which is, it's not 24, it's 30 valent actually, now.
Yes.
So that's something that we are also ensuring that India is on that roadmap. But as I said, given the nature of the clinical trials, given the engagement with the regulators, that's at least 18 months away.
So Abdul Kader, has two questions: "Please provide some color on the performance of your key therapies in pharma segment," and then I'll take the next one.
Thank you, Mr. Abdul Kader. So the first one, if you see the external environment, the pharmaceutical market for Q1 grew by about 8.6%, eight, 8.5%. And if you were to split that between acute and chronic, acute grew lower. The acute growth, acute segments grew by about 6%. So and if you look at our split, our portfolio is largely, you know, acute, and in spite of a 6% growth externally, we've delivered a growth with our general medicines business of about double digit. So... And that is, this is not a peak season quarter. So clearly, as we move ahead, we expect to continue the same momentum. So that's the first response to your question.
I think if I have to characterize the growth pattern of what we've delivered versus competition, as well as the therapies where we operate, be it anti-infectives, be it derms, if you saw the data points in my slide, our Evolution Index is more than 100 across the board. So we've delivered a better performance for Q1 compared to others in all therapy areas.
His follow-on question is: What's the contribution of vaccines in the quarter, and the underlying growth in Infanrix Hexa, Havrix, and Varilrix?
Sure. So the first question was underlying growth or.
Its contribution of vaccines in the quarter.
You want to take that, Juby?
So contribution of vaccine continues to remain same. Roughly 21% of the total number is vaccines. What's the next question?
Underlying growth.
The underlying growth of Havrix,
Infanrix Hexa
Infanrix Hexa. I had it on my slide, but if you can, if you just quickly recall, Havrix. I think Havrix, Boostrix, some of these assets have grown in significantly high double digit. Infanrix Hexa has been a single digit, and that's something that the team is working on to ensure that we get back to a double-digit growth there as well.
Viraj Mithani says: "Color on export in terms of target markets, especially USA, Europe, and growth prospects.
Our Indian business is largely made in India for India. So as you know, we have our own Nashik, our manufacturing facility in Nashik. Plus, we have more than 20 CMOs whom we work very closely. Clearly, this, the model that we have is, is for India, but that's, that's what we will follow as of now. I don't see us really going after, external markets and using India as a sourcing base, at least not in the - in this financial year.
Okay. The follow-on question is: Which is the best quarter for us?
So the best quarter typically for all pharmaceutical companies are the monsoon season, which is the second quarter of the financial year, and followed by the third quarter of the financial year. So second and third quarters are the best quarters.
Next one is from Nikhil: "For Ceftum and T-Bact, what would be our volume share pre-NLEM and now?
So, Mr. Nikhil?
Uh, Nikhil.
Nikhil. Mr. Nikhil, for Ceftum, for example, we have gained. If you look at Q1 performance, we have gained almost 8.5% volume share. So you can imagine the kind of impact that we have nullified. In spite of almost a 57% drop in the prices, our value AIs are almost close to 95% now. So that's the share gain that we're talking of. I think even for the Q1, our volumes have grown in excess of 45% for Ceftum. Similarly, for T-Bact, we continue to maintain our leadership position in the not just the mupirocin market, but the wider topical anti-infective market. And even there, we have gained 2% market share, and we have completely mitigated the impact of NLEM, and even the value AIs are now in excess of 100.
Thank you, Bhushan. Next one is from Gokul Maheshwari: "Will your growth be higher in FY 25, given the low base of NLEM drugs, (Ceftum), in FY 24? The impact of lower price in FY 24 will be offset by higher volumes in FY 25?" Question.
Yes, that's right. So the FY 2024 had lower growth because of NLEM. So this year, we for the last two quarters, if you are observing our numbers, it's tracking close to double-digit growth. So we'll see the same trend continuing, but last year it was single-digit growth.
Next question is from Vishal Manchanda: "Can Jemperli be used off-label in first-line setting, and would you have a number as to how many cases of advanced endometrial cancer are diagnosed in India?
So first and foremost, we would not, you know, as an ethical company, obviously, we will, we recommend only approved indications for all our assets, and that includes Jemperli. As I said, the marketing authorization that we have got is only for second line to begin with. We are seeing ways and means to, to see how we can engage with the regulators, for the first line. Endometrial cancer incidence data, depending on what sources you see, but there are typically at any given point of time, about 30,000 patients who come into the system. So the idea is to ensure that we provide, the best-in-class treatment and with the data part, that's, in terms of the readouts that we already have.
Next question is from Viraj Mithani: Would we have any impact of parent Zantac case, and if so, how are we preparing ourselves?
So when you say impact, clearly we don't have Zantac available in India. So I think that's something that we've already moved away from for the last few years now. As you must be following cases, the case is already being taken up, so the legal team globally is involved in ensuring. The answer is, we don't see any impact locally here for India. And just to let you know, the molecule continues to be sold by Indian companies. So in India, that molecule is still sold and widely available, so the regulators have not done anything as of now, regarding the availability of this product.
Great. Okay, Tushar, can you please share the timeline for completing the clinical trials for gepotidacin?
I think it's already done. If I'm not mistaken, the clinical trials are done. The commercial assessment is something that we are evaluating, given the price point at where it sits. Remember, it's an in-licensed asset. So as I said earlier, the asset has to make sense in terms of the cost of treatment. But the trial is done. It's about really assessing whether this makes financial sense, as well as is it bringing real value to the patients in India. So as I said earlier, not all trials we will look at with the same energy. I think there are some assets which we'll prioritize. Jemperli is clearly undergoing a commercial evaluation.
Thank you, Tushar. Nikhil, you raised your hand or is that an earlier hand?
Yeah, I have one question.
Yes, go ahead.
See, we have a good specialty, gen med, segment and the vaccines. In the specialty, we are focusing on launching molecules from the parent pipeline. But if we do a mapping of the therapies we focus on versus what the parent is focusing on, would it be 100% mapping? And if not, would you look at acquisition as a possibility to build up that pipeline or that therapy mix in India? Otherwise, what is the point of keeping so much cash at the company level?
It's a very good question, Mr. Nikhil, and I think I'll probably answer your question with the help of one data point, which is the launch of Trelegy. It's a global asset. It's one of the largest products for us in the non-vaccine, in the medicines category. And we launched this 18 months ago. We really put some energy, so we have expanded our field force. We put up robust medical marketing plans now. And even within the fast-moving, fast-growing triple category, you know, this single inhalation, triple treatment category, which means you just need one device, you don't have to have multiple devices. We are one of the fastest growing brands.
We have already got a share, market share of almost, six percent, in the last six months since we've put some energy. And the idea is if you are able to get, at the growth end of the market, assets like Trelegy, it makes immense sense. Yes, to the question that you asked, are we open to acquisitions and, you know, inorganic growth? We've always looked at opportunities, but those have to make sense in terms of, the complementarity that those assets might potentially have with what we bring, to the market. So, not always we find the best fit, both from a governance compliance standpoint as well as, the novelty that some of these assets might bring in the future. So it's a mix of both, I would say.
I know it's not the best answer, but really,
But
We would love to keep our strengths more than just launching something where we are the fiftieth one without bringing any material value to both physicians as well as patients. You are asking something, Mr. Nikhil.
Yeah, just a continuation. When we go about marketing or promoting Trelegy, is it helping us with our older respiratory products as well, in terms of increasing market share or better growth for them? Or is it like Trelegy is the only product in the respiratory which we are focusing on and others have lost relevance? How, how should one understand.
Sure.
Versus our old?
So if you see the combination that Trelegy is, today, umeclidinium, which is the only one available in Trelegy, we still have a patent there. So clearly there are competitors, but not with the same combination that Trelegy offers. So clearly, the superiority of the device, combined with, the inclusion of umeclidinium, which no one else, has in the market. So those are the two variables which are really setting us apart. So although you have generic competitors, available for different combinations, not the one that we have, it's really helping us set ourselves, apart from the competition. To the other question that you asked, yes, it's definitely having an impact on Nucala. So for example, we currently have almost 800 to 1,000 patients who have benefited and who continue to benefit.
So every month, although severe eosinophilic asthma, where Nucala is indicated, being a monoclonal antibody, is still a niche area, I think. The ability for physicians to make the right decisions, identify patients early on, and put them on an innovative treatment like Nucala has also. So we've seen in the last 6 months, clearly a good impact on both these assets, because they are both together in the same team. I hope I've answered you, Mr. Nikhil. So follow-up. Yeah, sure. Thanks. Thank you. Vishal Manchanda says, "On Trelegy, are there generic competitors in India?" I just answered that question. So if I just wanted to close that, Vishal, we've responded to that.
He says, "If yes, how is Trelegy priced versus generic competitors?" Well, as I said, there is no generic direct competitor for this because umeclidinium is one of the unique patented molecules that we have in this triple combination. None of the other companies have this combo. And if you look at the price point, we have—it's a band. Maybe we are at, depending on whom you are comparing with, but there is a certain band in which we are operating, and that's where Trelegy is right now. It's roughly about INR 2,500-INR 3,000 per month. Mr. Deepak, your question on the launch of RSV vaccine in India has already been responded, so that's taken care of. We'll move to the last question. Sorry, Mr. Nikhil has his hand up. Is that a new hand or?
No, that's an old hand.
Last question is from Viraj. He says, "Color on the AIDS portfolio in terms of growth and launching of new products." AIDS portfolio.
No, we don't have HIV in India. I think, many years ago we have, given away our, our licenses. So we had, we've had an arrangement with several Indian local companies where assets to our HIV portfolio, I mean, licenses to our HIV assets were given out, so there's no intent to launch the HIV portfolio in India.
Great. With that, we've come to the close, of this meeting, so, closing remarks?
No, no remarks. I think we have Thanks a lot for your time.
As we committed, in the last investor meeting also, although we don't give guidance of any kind, at least for the full financial year, what we presented to you, we still remain committed to the sense of direction, and more importantly, the holding the margins at what we have, what Juby has just shared. So that's something that we remain committed to.
Great. Thank you all for joining in, and see you next time.
T hank you very much, everyone. Thank you.