Elder Pharmaceuticals is targeting Rs 100 crore from global sales of its calcium supplement brand Shelcal by 2017-18, in view of increasing exports base to Europe, Asia and African countries.
Elder had sold Shelcal's domestic market rights and 30 other brands to Torrent Pharma last year for Rs 2,000 crore but had retained the rights for the international markets.
"We now plan to do aggressive marketing of this superbrand globally and going by the response received so far, we expect that the company should be able to garner a turnover of about Rs 100 crore from the International operations of Shelcal by 2017-18," Elder Pharmaceuticals Chairman and Managing Director Alok Saxena told PTI here.
The company is also looking to export another nutritional product, Thrive, a natural supplement that helps fight chronic metabolic disorders, he added.
It is looking at strong prescription base in over 70 countries by March 2017.
Elder Pharma has started exports of its leading calcium supplement brand to about 25 countries with many more on the anvil, Saxena said, adding that it is also targeting markets of Europe, CIS and Latin America.
Shelcal's European thrust will be spearheaded by Neutra Health plc, its wholly owned subsidiary in the UK which will market it across the EU. For 2015-16, the company is likely to notch up sales of over Rs 25 crore with demand from countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Maldives, Zambia, Uganda, Saxena said.
Shelcal is currently exported in the form of 250/500 mg tablets and syrup but new line extensions are also being planned which will include Shelcal CT (Calcitrol), Shelcal OS (alpha Calcitrol) and Shelcal HD (high dosage of Vitamin D3).
"Earlier our production capacities were barely able to fulfil the domestic demand for Shelcal and hence we were not pursuing the exports markets in a big way. Now that we have sold the domestic rights of Shelcal we can focus on the vast global markets," he added.
Moreover, Shelcal has found support from health conscious persons as the source of calcium used in Shelcal is from 'oyster shell', which provides calcium in its purest form.
Because of its organic origins, it is highly bio-available and gives significant increase in BMD (Bone Mineral Density), Saxena added.
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