Unichem Laboratories has decided to bring its psychiatry and neuroscience products under its women's healthcare brand Foreva. This is aimed at covering a larger disease profile in women. Currently Foreva has only gynaecological products.
The move follows the product reorganisation the company has undertaken to gain a competitive edge in the domestic market.
P A Mody, chairman and managing director of Unichem Laboratories, said: "The brand extension is being done to make Foreva more woman focused. It will also cover a number of other afflictions, besides gynaecological problems."
These therapeutic segments were initially covered by Unisearch, the specialty division of Unichem. The other two divisions of Unichem are human healthcare and women's healthcare.
Unisearch initially consisted of cardiovascular, diabetes, psychiatry and neuroscience drugs. "We realised that, since we wanted to focus on the high-value chronic disease segment, we would have to concentrate on these segments as a division. Therefore, we brought psychiatry and neuroscience under the Foreva umbrella," Mody added.
As a result of this review, Unisearch will now have diabetes and cardiovascular while the psychiatry and neuroscience will be moved to Foreva. "This will even allow us to introduce new brands faster in each of these segments," he added.
Foreva currently has five products namely: Sulpacin (anti biotic), Haemanitic (iron), Nutreva which is protein preparation with soya, with two new introductions of Evacal (calcium) and Estoral (raloxifen). The new portfolio will now also include pills for anti depression, tranquilizers and anti-epileptics.
According to ORG Marg figures, Unichem is the eleventh largest company in terms of prescriptions. Over 80 per cent of the company's turnover comes from domestic formulations and it is gearing up to become 'one of the preferred brands' in the product patent regime. The company is also planning to increase its exports by focusing on global generics more than export of bulk drugs.
