‘‘With Milieus, we intend to retrieve the family physician’s support’’

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has recently launched a new division ‘Milieus’ to cater to the needs of general practitioners across India. In an interview with Express Pharma Pulse, Abhinna Mohanty, director, Domestic Formulations, unravels the strategy behind the launch.

What is the reason for launching a new division, Milieus?

Milieus is a part of our commitment towards the enhancement of healthcare in India, which we wish to achieve through our focus on general practitioners (GPs) across India. When Glenmark started way back in 1978, we had several products for family physicians. Ascoril, Candid, Candid-B—some of our today’s top ten brands—were created at that particular time from the GPs’ perspective. However, with time, came new opportunities to Glenmark, for launching varied molecules. With the launch of several such molecules in the Indian market, it was more by opportunity and less by design, that we opted out of the GP scene to position our molecules for the specialists.

Our new-found success, however, did not stop us from realising that this development was creating a huge gap; family physicians were always the strength of this company. Since, it is not possible to retrace what we have done, we decided to launch Milieus, especially to address this target audience, with our new brands, which are specially meant for them. Also way back in 1980s, Glenmark had made a mark for itself, in providing high quality, economical and need-based products for house physicians, and it is this image that we wish to revive.

What shall be Glenmark's strategy behind the launch of this new division?

We intend to launch the division in three phases. In the first phase, we will be introducing the division in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. While we have already launched Milieus in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa; UP and Bihar are on the way. It is in these belts that we have the maximum population of GPs.

If the division is launched successfully in the first phase, then we will proceed to the next phase and subsequently to all India level, our purpose being, to reach out to every family physician in the country.

We are also in the process of setting up a 35-crore manufacturing plant in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, and are midway in the process of recruiting people for our project. It will be our medical representatives–our most trusted source, who will primarily handle the marketing to our target audience.

However, we are also looking at alternate forms of communication like sending Dear Doctor letters, conducting Continuing Medical Education (CME) programmes and having mailer campaigns. We intend to train people about disease management areas, and establish a one-to-one rapport with the GPs, to understand their requirements.

What happens in this country is that most companies sell their products to specialists, which then percolates down to the GPs, who are at the bottom of the pyramid. It is our wish to change this trend. Milieus will exclusively address GPs, considering that the issues they face are very different from that of the specialists.

Could you please elaborate on the issues faced by the GPs?

One very glaring difference is that the GP has to treat acute care, with a disadvantage of not having pathological investigations to support him. His choice of therapy has to be right at the very first instance. In contrast, the specialist has a back-up of pathological reports to decide his choice of therapy. This difference becomes even more pronounced in a rural set up.

Do you plan to launch new products from this division?

We are planning to launch 15 products under this division. It is going to be a basket of drugs, some of them being new, others being our already existing brands, and yet others being our gold standard molecules—molecules which have stood the test of time and which if managed properly can have long life cycles. Our existing four brands that will become a part of this division, will be namely, Scaboma (an anti-scabies drug), Relcer (an antacid), Glentona (a vitamin tonic) and Duolaxin (a laxative).

Are the products going to be low-priced, considering that you have the rural set up in mind?

We are working on a low price cost structure. Our intention is to make our products freely available and since the population of GPs’ is huge, we are looking forward to increasing the volume of our business. So, unlike the

specialty sector—where the drugs are premium priced—the products under this division will be both economical and easily available.

Don’t you think that the new launch of products would overlap Glenmark’s existing basket of products—that deal with general healthcare?

We have taken care to see that there is no overlap of products. Most of our existing products are specialty driven. For eg, Ascoril—our cough product, is prescribed by paediatricians and chest specialists. However, the products under Milieus will be a complete new set of formulations as required by GPs. This will include products, in the nutraceuticals, anti-infective, cough and cold, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and gastroenterology therapy areas.

Is the inclusion of nutraceuticals a conscious decision, considering that this market is witnessing a boom?

As of now our basket does not include nutraceuticals, although in the near future, we do intend to launch products in this category. At the moment, we are primarily targeting the anti-infective market. We are placing our bet on antibiotics needed for treating infections, which are commonly recommended by GPs.

Glenmark had acquired three brands from Lyka Laboratories in June 2000 to strengthen its franchise in the dermatology and cough market. Apparently these products have done well. Is that what gave Glenmark the confidence to go ahead with the general healthcare sector?

All our products have done very well in the specialty area, not in the general healthcare sector. With a profile of specialty driven products, we have in fact lost the family physician’s support. If these products have reached the family physicians, it is perhaps only through the specialists.

Do you look at it as a reverse transition—for Glenmark to be moving from its specialised sectors to general healthcare?

Well, we don’t look at it as a movement. We are continuing to restructure our activity at the specialty level, by keeping it more focussed. The idea of Milieus was conceived because we also considered it important to address the country’s general practitioners.

Divya R Nair

divya@expresspharmapulse.com