King Multitech Global Pvt. Ltd, which is a part of the King Group, has inked a pact with Aptomed USA in June this year to offer Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) in India.
The therapy will be introduced in the country by the end-of-the-month at Ludhiana and Chandigarh. By early September it is expected to be offered in Mumbai. The company has also plans to offer the same in south India at Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.
BHRT is a natural substitute for hormonal deficiencies posing no side effects on patients' health in comparison to synthetic hormones, Karan Goel, CEO, King Multitech told Pharmabiz in a telecon interview.
The concept of BHRT is a novel introduction. The key objective of the therapy is to correct the hormone imbalance which could include hyper or hypo activation of adrenal, thyroid and other glands in men and women.
"Hormones play a critical role in therapeutics and general wellness. The hormonal imbalance can affect any age group. One of the common conditions of hormone imbalance among the younger population is acne. In some cases it is a decline of hormones which results in low energy, slow cognitive function, decreased well-being, depression, weight gain, muscle loss and osteoporosis," explained Goel.
The BHRT will be prescribed after a blood test which could provide the reading of hormone levels including estrogen, testosterone and progesterone. The therapy is priced around Rs 5,000 a month for the patient.
Under the Aptomed collaboration, King Multitech will provide the therapy training, technical and scientific backup to the medical practitioners who will comprise of general practitioners as they are the first level of contact for patients.
The BHRT has been in the global market for the last 6-8 years and is a US FDA approved therapy. In India, King Multitech will take a no objection certification (NOC) from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for every prescription, stated Goel.
The Ludhiana-based King Multitech has a marketing team of 40 which will be increased to 100 over the next five to six months. This team will create an awareness among the general practitioners on the symptoms of hormone deficiency or its excess, will conduct lab tests, analyse results and monitor cases as BHRT is a pre developed treatment modality providing correct dose calculation.
Further, the company's marketing team will also be engaged in the training of doctors to diagnose the hormonal imbalance and prescribe the therapy.
The marketing strategy for King Multitech will include a combination of personal call at the clinics or nursing homes, medical conferences and continuing medical education (CME) programmes. The company is confident that word of mouth publicity would also increase the prescription of BHRT.