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Elder Pharmaceuticals plans to recruit 1,000 sales and marketing professionals within two months, mainly to sell drugs in untapped rural markets.
"There has been a revival in demand across pharmaceutical segments, but the real growth story lies in the rural and semi-urban markets, which we expect to grow at about 15 per cent annually from the current level," said Alok Saxena, director at Elder Pharmaceuticals.
Elder Pharma employs about 3,300 people in India, with about 2,700 professionals in marketing and sales. This recruitment will help Elder Pharma to have one of the largest drug sales force in India, like market leaders such as Cipla, Ranbaxy, Piramal Healthcare and Lupin.
He said the Rs 600-crore (Rs 6 billion) company would launch nine-12 new products in this financial year in India. He said in addition to doctors, Elder Pharma had plans to reach out to physicians, specialists and chemists, hospitals, nursing homes and private healthcare institutions in rural and semi-urban areas in a major way.
Elvista, Elder Pharma's rural division, already has presence in the rural and semi urban markets of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra, Bengal and Bihar and certain areas in South India.
By December 2012, Elvista plans to reach 1,500 villages, with population of below 40,000, 300 villages with population of 40,000 to 1,00,000 and over 75 peripheral villages and towns around MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan region). Elder sells over 350 products with focus on generics, women's healthcare, pain management lifestyle diseases.
Elder Pharma, according to drug sales tracking agency ORG IMS, was the fastest growing pharma company in India during 2009 calendar year, said Saxena.
India is likely to become one of the top 10 global pharmaceuticals markets in terms of sales by 2020, with the total value reaching about $50 billion, according to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
