Pfizer Ltd, the Indian arm of Pfizer Inc. of the US, is launching Becosules Plus, a variant of its highest selling multivitamin brand Becosules. Coenzyme vitamin H, or biotin, has been added in the new formulation apart from the existing ingredients of Becosules.

The company has been working on this product for the past 18 months and has conducted six months stability studies on it, says Ian Young, managing director, Pfizer Ltd. The product will be priced at Rs 11 for a strip of ten capsules.

However, the company is yet to decide on the fate of Becosules, which underwent drastic price reduction after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority slashed its prices by 30 per cent to Rs 7.90. "A lot would depend on the review petition filed by Omni Protech, Pfizer''s third party manufacturer, to the NPPA for an increase in price," Mr Young says.

Becosules is the second largest pharmaceutical brand in the country, after Alembic''s Althrocin. According to IMS 1998 data, Becosules recorded sales of Rs 71 crore and grew at a healthy 27 per cent over 1997.

Industry experts foresee withdrawal of Becosules from the market if the NPPA does not increase the prices to an accepted level. It also remains to be seen how NPPA reacts to Pfizer''s latest initiative, which could well be perceived as circumventing the NPPA price control net, an industry official says.