GSK mulls local production of new dental care brand in India

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is looking at partnering with local manufacturers for its newly-launched Polident brand of specialized oral care products in the country, with plans to make India an export hub for the brand in neighbouring markets.
The company that sells brands such as Sensodyne, Eno, Crocin and Otrivin launched Polident—a denture care brand—in India last month. The launch of the Polident denture fixative cream marks GSK’s foray into the specialized denture care category.

“Polident, to begin with, we have imported, but we are actively in talks with local manufacturers. In fact, India will be the hub wherein India will supply to a few neighbouring countries for sure,” said Anurita Chopra, area marketing director, oral health, GSK Consumer Healthcare.

Globally, the denture-care category is estimated at Rs12,500 crore.

GSK Consumer Healthcare sells the product across markets such as Japan, China, Latin America etc.

Chopra said it could take up to a year for the company to finalize plans for local manufacturing in India.

“We are actively scoping out the local manufacturing part, in terms of how we are going to set up the manufacturing story for Polident in India. Most probably it will be a third-party manufacturer to start with, and then let’s see once the business picks up. That will obviously determine what kind of investments we want. But definitely there is huge intent to build the brand—we’re pretty much starting from scratch in terms of actually building the category that does not exist in India,” she said.

The move comes after GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) announced plans to divest its health food drinks portfolio in India, Bangladesh and 20 other largely Asian markets to Unilever in 2018. The deal included an all-equity merger of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) with the GSK Consumer Healthcare India (GSK CH India).

GSK had earlier said that India remains “an important market for GSK” and the company will continue to invest in growth opportunities for its OTC and oral health brands here.

In India, the product that has been launched online and across the country will largely be targeted at a more urban consumer for now.

“We will start with the urban population definitely because that’s where we find that currently, the denture users reside,” said Chopra.

“GSK estimates there are 20 million denture wearers in India. But we know that another million gets added every year,” said Chopra.

GSK estimates that In India, one out of every seven Indians above the age of 45 wears a denture; however, only 5% of these denture wearers use specialist products.

The company already works with network of 35,000 dentists and dental experts for its Sensodyne brand of oral care—a network it will tap to promote its new brand. The first endorsers and advocates for Polident will be dental experts, said Chopra.

To be sure, India is the second-largest market for the brand Sensodyne. The brand is locally manufactured here through facilities in Karnataka, Goa and Silvassa. The product is exported to several markets from India.

The launch will also be supported with a strong media plan, the company said. “So, the TV campaign has already gone live in Tamil Nadu, and in Delhi. There is a very strong digital campaign because today’s audience is so digitally savvy. And the expert channel, which is a very critical endorser for us, is working very well in terms of prescriptions,” she said. – Mint