Johnson & Smith Co., a Bangalore-based pharma company, is all set to consolidate its operations in generics business and intends to focus more on cosmeceutical space where it is developing products to control dry skin and prevent sun tan.

The company already manufactures antibiotics cosmeceutical and painkillers for the national market sold under the brand name 'Pacin'. These products are made at its Bangalore facility in Peenya Industrial Area. However, a major portion is outsourced from units located in the excise free zone at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. The company used to be a leading contract manufacturer prior to the excise free zone announcement.

The announcement of the excise duty exemption in 2005 led Johnson & Smith to chalk out a two-pronged strategy for survival. One was to opt for a third party manufacturer in the excise free zone for its generics and the other was to move into development and manufacture of a range of cosmetics. Today, both these initiative have benefited the company. "We were far sighted and hence were able to capitalize on both the business development initiatives. Today, our generics to cosmeceutical business ratio is 30:70, " Askok Bohra, director, Johnson & Smith Co. told Pharmabiz.

To begin with, Johnson & Smith's cosmeceutical range under the brand name 'Bioline' has moisturizing lotion, cold cream and lip balm to prevent dry skin conditions which if neglected to lead to serious dermatology disorders. Right now, all products are popular in the southern markets. It has also made its entry into the northern region. It has been accepted for its quality and pricing going by the repeat orders. The target audience is the middle class population. To create an awareness, the company allocated Rs. 1 crore budget last year and Rs. 60 lakh this year for publicity works.

With Sunscreen products are becoming popular in India, Johnson & Smith is getting ready to market a broad-spectrum of ultraviolet coverage or higher sun protection factor (SPF) sun screen range. It will begin with 15SPF, followed by 18 and 12 SPF.

India has a two per cent share of the global cosmeceutical market of $ 5.1 billion. There are both large and small companies from the national and international arena vying for a share of the market. Going hand in hand with the efficacy of the product is the affordability which is becoming a critical deciding factor to purchase in India. In this regard the company's Bioline range stands to gain going by the response for far. We have an edge on both quality of content and cost, added Bohra.