Abha Damani: Vision to a healthy future

JOURNEY OF ICPA HEALTH PRODUCTS LTD

ICPA Health Products Ltd. (ICPA) is India’s leading pharmaceutical companies specializing in the oral healthcare segment. My father, Mr. Rohit Mehta, Founder & Managing Director started ICPA in 1972. Right off the bat, he established ICPA as the pioneer in the Strontium Chloride segment by introducing toothpaste with this formulation in 1974. Through the years, ICPA maintained its focus in the oral healthcare segment with a portfolio comprising of 74 different products. We created products like Thermoseal and Hexidine which continue to remain the most popular and recommended toothpaste and mouthwash by dentists. Over the last 49 years, we have been scaling up presence across domestic and international markets while also expanding our offerings in dermatology, haemorrhoids and ENT segments. Today, we are present in the FMCG segment too with an array of products in perfumes, sanitizers, hand washes, disinfectants and soaps, among others.

YOUR FORAY INTO BUSINESS

I joined ICPA in the year 2000 and spent the first seven years mostly getting acquainted with the business and understanding the company. As part of my first project at ICPA, I undertook the responsibility of upgrading the manufacturing systems which included modernizing the plant. The objective was to bring in more efficiency and productivity through implementation of processes. Today, our R&D and manufacturing plant in Ankleshwar, Gujarat is one of India’s most technologically advanced facilities in oral healthcare and is certified by the EU, WHO GMP and ISO.

HOW IT ALL STARTED?

Back in the 70s, when most pharmaceutical companies were trying to expand their product offerings, ICPA decided to focus solely on dental products. We continue to maintain our focus and identity as specialists in the oral healthcare segment even today. The total prescription-based oral care market in India is a little over Rs.1,000 crores and ICPA has a market share of approximately 16 per cent in the segment making us the second largest Pharma Company in the segment. We also rank amongst the top 100 Pharma companies in India.

THE FUTURE EXPANSION PLANS ETC.

Today ICPA enjoys international presence in over 18 countries across South-East Asia, Middle-East, UK, Australia and French West Africa. Our flagship product – Hexidine is the recommended mouthwash for COVID19 symptom management. Now we are looking at consolidating our business and ramping up our production to meet the growing needs of the markets in the country and abroad. In the immediate future, we will be increasing our offerings in oral hygiene, especially mouthwashes. We have been promoting our mouthwashes for anti-viral and anti-bacterial treatments since the need for these products has increased during the pandemic. We are also exploring the scope for new products and have accelerated our marketing efforts in the disinfectant segment for hospitals and other medical institutions. We recently also forayed into antibiotics with the launch of ICPAMOX – CV 625, which is meant to treat odontogenic infections and have planned to gradually increase our spread in the antibiotics. We will maintain our position in the oral hygiene segment and being one of the key players, the new product innovations based on dentists’ needs, will be our core strategy to further grow in this vertical.

HARBINGER OF CHANGE

We are witnessing a change in the market dynamics with regards to prescription based oral hygiene products. The evolution of the OTC is enticing more key players to enter segment and fragment the market. At the same time, the generic segment, to some extent, will also impact the market on the pricing front. The OTC segment and online sales platforms will be the key areas where we plan to deploy significant investment in terms of developing technology and resources. We have been growing at just over 15 per cent growth rate over the last decade and plan to become an Rs.500-crore company by 2028.

BIGGEST STRENGTH OF THE ORGANIZATION

Value for money is ICPA’s biggest strength. We create the best quality in Oral Healthcare products at the most affordable prices.

YOUR PASSION/HOBBY

I enjoy reading and sketching. I love to play Chess whenever time permits.

YOUR FITNESS MANTRA

5 days a week, I dedicate an hour or two exercising. I am extremely health conscious and try my best to not deviate from my fitness regime

YOUR VIEWPOINT ON SUCCESS

I believe that success is subjective and for me, maintaining a balance across all aspects of life is the key to success.

YOUR FAVORITE PAST TIME

Reading, writing, travelling, spending time with my family.

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