Mercator Healthcare Ltd, a leading manufacturer and exporter of male latex condoms, is launching emergency contraceptive pill (Levonorgestrel 0.75mg) under the brand name Plan II in the North and West Indian market in technical collaboration with Gedeon Richter of Hungary.

Gideon Richter is the famed manufacturer of the emergency contraceptive pill Postinor 2.

The pills, which have already received marketing approval from the Drug Controller General of India, is expected to hit the market in two months. The pills will be imported from Hungary for at least two years after which Mercator might look at manufacturing them here, Managing Director Shalabh Mittal said here today.

The company intends to enlist the help of some Indian companies, having a presence in the reproductive healthcare segment, to market the product. Names of the marketing collaborators were not revealed. "We are looking at smaller companies in the gynaec segment with better reach," says Mittal.

Mercator is also entering into tie-ups with NGOs like Population Services International and DKT and the Family Planning Association of India.

The company hopes to sell one million pills in the first year. According to Mittal, Mercator has plans to introduce three more products in the reproductive healthcare segment.

MHL Director Anil J Jain said that the company is sensitive to social welfare and wants accessibility for such products in rural areas as abortion deaths are alarmingly high. In countries like Germany and the United Kingdom, the pill is dispensed over the counter whereas in India it is a prescription drug.

"We are looking at pioneering reproductive healthcare products. There is very little research happening on contraceptives," Jain noted. Mittal says he has three more products in mind in the same segment.

"Quality is extremely important for us. Part of the highly profitable Rs 80 crore shipping group Mercator Lines Ltd, the healthcare division can offer excellent quality without cutting corners," Shalabh said.

Mercator Healthcare Ltd, the three-year-old reproductive healthcare division of the Mercator Group of Companies, has also commissioned a cent per cent export oriented, condom manufacturing plant at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh last month at a cost of $2 million, Mittal said.

With a staff complement of 110 and three shifts a day, he says, it is one the best plants in the whole of Asia.

The plant, which received ISO and CE approval this month, can produce around 1.2 million grosses (183 million pieces) per annum for the highly regulated market. Till now, Mercator was producing world class condoms from a facility near Penang in Malaysia. The company produces condoms for over 80 countries, the biggest customer being UK. It gets technical support from the Erfert (ex-East Germany)-based Richter, the pioneers of condom machinery. Mercator will continue to produce condoms at Malaysia.

The condom exports business is reasonably profitable with a net profit of 12 per cent of the turnover which is currently pegged at $2 million. The sales is expected to triple in the next financial year on account of domestic production of condoms and the sales of Plan II, Mittal says. One piece of condom is priced between two and four cents.

Mercator Healthcare Ltd is also getting contract manufactured a range of diagnostic kits for Fertility, Infectious Diseases and Parasitology including HIV, Chlamydia and Pregnancy. MHL places a strong emphasis on specifications, branding, packaging and logistics. The clientele includes several international donor agencies such as International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), UK.