Swiss firm Galderma eyes India skincare, beauty market

Galderma, a Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company, owned by food and beverage giant Nestle, plans to tap the Rs 30,000-crore skincare and beauty market in India.

At present, it sells a little over 30 prescription-based medicines in the dermatology segment. It is now foraying into the anti-ageing injectible and over-the-counter (OTC) segments. It has introduced three to four products in the aesthetic and corrective segment, including its range of Restylane vital skin boosters. It plans at least 12 more products in the segment by 2017, of which eight would be launched this year, said Madhusudhan H K, head of the aesthetic and corrective business in India.

There are a lot of new trends driving this business in India. We want to encash this opportunity by helping the consumer with more options, he said. He added the aesthetic and corrective business will be primarily focused on injectibles, as there was huge space, with demand for dermal fillers and other aesthetic treatments increasing rapidly in the country.

The company is also expected to launch an OTC skin care business and has identified five specific brands for launche within the next two years.

Galderma is targeting a five-fold growth in annual sales to Rs 500 crore by 2018 in its dermatology business here. The company has manufacturing facilities in the US and France; it mostly imports its products for India. Lausanne-based Galderma was founded as a 50:50 venture of Nestle and LOreal. Last month, Nestle bought the other 50 per cent. Galderma is in India for 11 years. It has added acne and skin cancer treatments to Nestles health care product line, which includes nutrition drink brands such as Boost and some soluble fibre supplements.

To have a firm footing in the anti-ageing injectible market, Galderma has started academies in Mumbai and New Delhi to train doctors in aesthetic medicine delivery.

The idea is to create a market and standard treatment protocols for the Indian face. According to Madhusudhan, the aesthetic and corrective business in India is still in a nascent stage; Allergan is the only other established entity in the organised segment. However, there are various unorganised distributors of such products. It is seen growing rapidly, at 30-35 per cent a year.

He said the number of practitioners in India is low. In India, there are only 800 doctors who are practising aesthetic medicine, as compared to 6,000 in Korea. So, there is a huge opportunity which we can tap, he said.

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Swiss firm Galderma eyes India skincare, beauty market