Hindustan Latex Limited (HLL), the largest contraceptive manufacturing PSU in the country, is venturing into manufacturing and marketing of vaccines, nutraceuticals and natural products segments within a year with an objective of achieving a sales target of Rs 1000 crore turnover by 2010.

The company, which has already announced its foray into vaccines marketing with two products to be launched soon, is on an anvil to set up a vaccine division by the year 2007 by adding more products in the list. The company is also probing opportunities to launch a vaccines manufacturing plant as the third phase of the project. The first phase will focus on marketing products from other companies while the second phase would deal with adding more products into the portfolio with launching a separate vaccines division, according to the company sources.

As an initial stage, the company has already tied up with the Bharat Biotech International Ltd., Hyderabad, to market Hepatitis B and Typhoid vaccines the country by November 2006 and an official has taken charge to look after the vaccine market and projects. By setting up the vaccine manufacturing plant, probably at Belgaum, Karnataka, or in the outskirts of Chennai, the company will deal with production and marketing of Rabbies Vaccines, tetravalent and pentavalent vaccines, added sources.

The marketing activities on vaccine products would be handled by the women's health division in the initial stage and will set as a separate division by 2007-08 with its marketing headquarters at Chennai, added sources to Pharmabiz. The company has recently marketed Rs 11 crore vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis in tie up with Bharat Biotech.

HLL's foray into natural products segment in collaboration with major Ayurveda drug manufacturing companies is expected to hit the market within six months. The venture will be triggered by introducing Galactagogue, a drug to enhance milk secrition of lactating mother and two products for topical pain leaving, a linament for joint pain and a gel for mascular pain in women due to calcium deficiency.

The company is also evaluating chances to introduce baby-food based on banana, arrow root and raagi in its freshly coming up Nutraceutical division, envisaged to finalise the product portfolio within eight months, according to P N Menon, head of women's health care pharma division and National Sales Manager (New Products), HLL.

The women's health care pharma division, launched in 2005, is also planning to introduce 10 new products in each six months. "Our mission is to enter into all the therapeutic areas, which have a market potential of more than Rs 10 crore for a particular area, related to women's healthcare," Menon told Pharmabiz.

The division will launch Petogen, a contraceptive depot injection to be used once in three months, imported from Fresenius, Germany, by the month of October. The company has signed for marketing rights for 20 years for the depot medroxy progesterone, worth Rs 150 per injection, and expects a Rs One crore ethical market for the product in the country, he added.

The division is also planning to introduce Nogestol, a combination of levonorgestrel and ethinyl oestradiol, to suppress ovalation, soon. The women's health care pharma division is on a market expansion aiming to cover Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan within three months, targeting Rs 2 crore market in these states, maintained Menon.

Hindustan Latex, which recorded a turnover of Rs.213 crore to come up with a profit of Rs.22.65 crore after tax in the financial year 2005-06, is contemplating the activities eyeing a turnover of Rs 1000 crore by 2010. The turnover and profit recorded in the last fiscal is the highest ever in the company's history and it envisages Rs.320 crore turnover in the current fiscal, according to the officials. The company has evolved as a global giant in contraceptive production with a 10 per cent market share of the global contraceptive market. The company has recently launched the Confidom, the first of its kind female controlled pregnancy prevention devise in the country.