January 27, 2012

Stock : Merck ~ Sector : Pharma

Source : Financial Express

• In order to give a push to its domestic sales, Merck, the Indian arm of $12-billion German pharma giant Merck, is adapting its flagship products to meet the needs of over-the-counter segment.
• Since 2007, when the company established its consumer healthcare division, it has already commercialised two innovations in the Indian markets by expanding its nasal decongestant portfolio under its flagship brand — Nasivion.
• Nasivion (moist) and Nasivion (no drip), the two upgraded products, have been launched in the last 18 months as a result of the company's Indian research and development labs.
• While Nasivion (moist) is targeted at relieving dry nostrils during nasal congestion, Nasivion (no drip) coagulates liquid into gel.
• Nasivion was already a market leader in its niche segment, but with our renewed efforts of upgradation, our product has been able to capture the numero uno position in a specific category of the doctor prescribed adult nasal spray, said Ashish Bhatt, business head, consumer healthcare, Merck.
• Similar product extensions can be expected from the Merck consumer healthcare in therapeutic areas such as cough and cold and joint care in the near future. At least one such product in the cold and cough segment, which has been researched and built from the scratch in our Indian labs, should hit the market somewhere around mid 2013, said Marek Dziki, managing director, Merck India.
• This strategy of Merck involves picking its flagship products and infusing innovation and upgradation leading up to product customisation so as to meet local needs. This is followed up by its 'rainbow' strategy of perking up the marketing for the customised products by reaching out to multiple stakeholders including doctors, traders, retailers and consumers in its attempt to provide a face-lift to the brand.
• A similar strategy is currently underway for its 'Seven Seas' cod liver oil, a five-decade-old brand in the domestic market. It has equipped the product with a patented technology, which the company terms as 'ocean gold'.
• The company claims through this technology it can extract the purest form of cod liver oil. Merck is ready to roll out a national marketing campaign shortly.
• However, the hot and humid climate of India has prevented Merck from bringing its whole range of probiotic multivitamins to the domestic market and the firm is still grappling with the challenge of innovating superior packaging material at affordable rates, before it can decide to launch its entire portfolio of probiotic products here.
• The company which posted revenues of R509 crore for the calender year 2010 is looking to grow 20% annually for the next two-three years.