Strides Consumer To Focus On Differentiated Products To Crack OTC Business

Strides Consumer, a recent entrant in the consumer health segment, said it is focusing on differentiated product offerings to get a slice of the $3 billion market.

The company on March 3 announced its entry into western Indian with two products- Nixit, an oral Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and Jointflex, a topical pain cream for joint care that comes as an ayurvedic formulation.

“Consumer healthcare sector in India is valued at $3 billion and expected to witness a twofold growth by 2024,” said Subodh Marwah, CEO, Strides Consumer.

“It is set to redefine itself with the increasing knowledge about preventative healthcare among customers and need for niche customer-centric products,” Marwah said.

Marwah was earlier the head of Sun Pharma’s consumer health division that included products such as pain relief Volini and Revital H.

Consumer health or over-the-counter (OTC) business refers to the sale of products directly to customers, without prescriptions.

Companies like Sun Pharma, Cipla, Himalaya, HUL, Zydus are investing in the consumer health business, that involves huge marketing spend to build OTC brands. Once the brand and distribution are figured out, OTC products tend to have better realisations than generic prescription products.

Bengaluru-based Strides Pharma Science entered the consumer health segment in 2017. But the division underwent a major restructuring in October 2018, with private equity firm India Life Sciences Fund acquiring 74 percent stake. Strides Pharma Science retained the balance 26 percent.

Marwah said currently his focus was to get the marketing and distribution strategy right. The company has entered South, East and Northern India markets with its two products.

“We want to place the product, we want the distribution. Our focus right now is, how are our trade partners responding to us? How are consumers responding to us? Are we getting enough good feedback? Do consumers feel that the products are doing what they’re meant to do for them? Those are the only things we’re looking at. We’re very young. We just got into the market,” Marwah said.

Marwah said the two products launched in 2019, are well-positioned to grab a piece of the action.

The NRT market is pegged at Rs 156 crore, growing at around 30 percent and is projected to reach Rs 450 crore by 2023, he said.

Marwah said the topical pain market is pegged at Rs 3,500 crore, growing at 8 percent year-on-year.

“India is home to 180 million arthritic patients, most of the current topical analgesic products treat only muscle pain, leaving the huge section of joint pain unattended. Jointflex is exclusively designed to address the joint pain segment, in addition to being a preferred brand in the US for over 20 years now and also helping consumers in 15 other countries,” Marwah said.-Money Control