Alopa Herbal Healthcare, the one-year-old Bangalore-based herbal and nutraceutical company is all set for major a market expansion from this year.
The company is on a massive recruitment drive for the purpose and plans to increase the strength of its marketing team to 500 by this year-end from current level of just 100.
Alopa, which has a presence in the southern markets of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry since last year, has set up a base in Kolkatta. In mid January, it will make an entry into Mumbai and Maharashtra at Satara, Kolhapur and Sangli. During the first quarter of 2005, Alopa will open offices at Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttaranchal and Haryana.
The Rs 4-crore Alopa has 26 products, out of which 80 per cent are therapeutics for disease segments including liver disorders, women's health and osteoarthritis apart from nutraceuticals. "Our intention in providing a comprehensive basket of products was to fill the vacuum and the limitations in allopathic drugs for many disorders," Dr. KM Ishwar Nambiar, managing director, Alopa Herbal Healthcare told Pharmabiz.com
The product list includes -women's health (Evatone, Leucoforte), hepatoprotective (Heptin Forte), obesity (Obis-30), osteoarthritis (Alpagesic), antacids (Alopacid), digestant (Alopazyme), expectorants (Alopakof) and health supplements (Aloprot-D & Aloprot), infertility (Profert M & Profert F) and an antipyretic/analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial (A3 Forte capsule and syrup). Its fastest growing products are OBIS-30, Heptin Forte, NIDD Forte, Evatone and Leucoforte.
All the products are manufactured by the Fine Chemicals. But the nutraceutical range is produced in-house at its facility on the Bannerghatta Road in Bangalore where it invested Rs 2.5 crore. With proper Ayurvedic data compilation, the US FDA will give its stamp of approval to Indian herbal drugs under 'botanical drugs' and not just as dietary supplements. Similarly, the European Union will accept Indian traditional medicine as 'herbal drugs'. Hence, Alopa plans to set up its own USFDA Herbal compliant plant either at Peenya or Hoskote in the outskirts of the city at an investment of Rs. 20 crore to address the growing requirements from the international market. The USFDA's Herbal Research guidelines announced two years ago is a critical necessity for herbal drug marketing in US and other developing countries, informed Dr. Nambiar.
The company has been initiating a couple of clinical trails for its products to validate their efficacy to the medical fraternity and for necessary global market clearances. Going by the increasing awareness and demand for herbal formulations world wide, Alopa has already teamed up with Vanisha International, USA and opened a liaison office there. The company exports to Dubai, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Product registration clearances are awaited from Vietnam, Nepal. Singapore and Malaysia.
Alopa Herbal Garden project in Bangalore would take off in 2006, as it is currently awaiting state forest department clearance on the allocation of land. This is a part of the Union Government's initiative to encourage entrepreneurs to set-up Herbal gardens.