As per recent reports, Micro Labs, the drug firm making Dolo 650, a popular medicine during the Covid times, is known to be facing allegations that it distributed freebies worth Rs 1,000 crores to doctors for simply prescribing the tablets.
However, concerning these allegations, the pharma company has said that the basic promotions during the pandemic were of really low value and is emphasizing that they spent only a relatively small amount of under 10 crores per year on their options and marketing.
Also, the company said that Dolo 650 is said to be a mega brand now simply due to the first-mover advantage, availability as well as quality of course. “Dolo 650 is a mega brand due to first-mover advantage, its quality, availability, and reach across the country. It is a mass brand and an established market leader with a 50 percent share, even before Covid,” Micro Labs CMD Dilip Surana told Times of India.
The fact that the Bengaluru-based company is charged with giving out freebies of about Rs 1000 crores, came under the scanner about last week when the Supreme Court was hearing a PIL filed by the Federation of Sales and Medical representatives Association.
Moreover, citing Dolo as just an example, the petitioner is looking out for an action from the centre to prevent what they described as unethical marketing practices by the pharmaceutical industry.
On the same, Executive vice president marketing, Jayaraj Govindaraju said, “On the pain relief pill alone the marketing expenditure has been typically 4-5 percent of its annual turnover of Rs 200-250 crore.” He added that, “the basic promotions during Covid were of low value and included giving out free (Dolo) samples, brand reminders, masks, and sanitizers”.
Also, it is probably worth noting that the Rs 2 pill was in mass circulation during the pandemic period, so much so that the company logged sales of Rs 362 crores for the year ended March this year, which sums up to a growth of about 30 percent.
Lastly, the department of I-T is known to have searched the premises in July and to have conducted wide raids on offices of the Rs 4500 crores Micro Labs, the parent company for Dolo, on charges of alleged tax evasion.
Reading so far, I hope you must have gotten a fair insight into Micro Labs being charged for Dolo 6450 freebies case, and by now I believe you will be able to decide on your own whether or not you think it was the right thing to do and whether or not you think this was a mistake.
In conclusion, what are your thoughts on Micro Labs being charged for Dolo 650 freebie case? Do let us know in the comments area below. To know more about such reports, do check out other articles we have on our website. Thank you for your time & if you found our content informative, do share it with your investor friends!
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