Manipal Health gets going

Manipal Cure and Care, the healthcare retail arm of the Manipal Education and Medical Group, hopes to stock 500 product lines and 100 dietary supplements.

ManipManipal Cure and Care hopes to be a Rs 500 crore company by 2012 and a Rs 200 crore company in three years.

For marketing its products, it plans to spend Rs 16 crore in the first year. It is also in talks with established pharmacy chains and modern retail chains for marketing their products.

Manipal has launched its second set of products in exclusive marketing tieup with ConsuCare of Malaysia for marketing the skincare brand Living Proof Harley Street, London. ConsuCare specialises in dermatological products.

ConsuCare is a $750 million firm that has 70 per cent of its business coming from wellness products. ConsuCare manufactures these skincare products and markets them here. Manipal hopes to have a business of Rs 5 crore from Living Proof which has a multi-product line.

Manipal Cure and Care had earlier launched a range of 12 skin care products at Ahmedabad. Manufactured by UAS Pharmaceuticals, a renowned Australian company specialising in dermatological products.

The products were developed especially for the Asian skin. This was the first launch of these products under the brand names of Dermavive, Neutriderm and Sunstop in India.

"We will launch a line of products every nine months," said Somnath Das, COO, Manipal Cure and Care. The firm will launch neutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, dietary supplements and such other products. It is now in talks with a French firm which is into cosmeceuticals, and also an Australian firm for launching their products in India.

On the competition from other business groups that plan to enter the healthcare retail sector, Das said, "No one else has the backing of a hospital chain like we do."