Indian billionaire Pharma Brothers get a boost from their go-to pandemic drug

This article is part of Forbes article on richest people in India 2022.See full list here.

Brothers Dilip and Anand Surana, who own generic drug maker Micro Labs, saw their assets grow 44% to $3.25 billion as privately-held Micro Labs sales surged. His Dolo-650, a brand of paracetamol, has become the go-to drug for Indians during the pandemic, and he posted a net profit of 11.7 billion rupees ($144 million) for the year ending March 2021. pushed up.

Dolo-650’s popularity rose after the government recommended 650mg of paracetamol to ease symptoms of Covid-19. It was the most prescribed drug at the height of last year’s pandemic, with a 58% market share. But other pressure points emerged. In July, Indian tax authorities raided the Bangalore-based company’s 36 facilities, claiming it had given away freebies worth 10 billion rupees to doctors to boost sales of the drug. At the time, Jayaraj Govindaraju, executive vice president of marketing, confirmed the tax audit but denied the allegations, adding that the amount reflected five years of total marketing spending. Investigation pending. Dolo-650 is in India, where global pharmaceutical giant GSK competes with Crocin and Calpol tablets.

Micro Labs’ pharmaceutical portfolio includes cardiovascular, pain management and dermatology. The group exports to his more than 50 countries, and in addition to his 14 other manufacturing bases, he added a $65 million plant for pharmaceutical raw materials near Bangalore. Suranas’ late father, GC Surana, was a former pharmaceutical distributor who founded his company in Chennai nearly 50 years ago.