Fertin to set up manufacturing unit for medicated chewing gums

Mumbai, Oct 19: Fertin India, a fully-owned subsidiary of Denmark-based Fertin Pharma A/S, plans to invest Rs 30 crore to set up a plant in Goa to manufacture medicated chewing gums, whose consumption is said to help in quitting smoking and curbing use of tobacco.

"We are setting up a Rs 30-crore facility in Goa to manufacture high quality medicated chewing gums. The new facility is expected to commence production in December," Fertin India Managing Director and CEO S Ravi Kumar said in a statement here.

Medicated chewing gums can help some people to stop use of tobacco and quit smoking. The market size for this product is estimated at around Rs 65-70 crore.

"The Goa unit is also planned to be a manufacturing hub of the company for future exports to South East Asia, MENA (Middle East, North Africa and Latin America)," Kumar said.

Fertin Pharma is a world leader in providing nicotine replacement therapies. The company, which produces more than one-third of nicotine chewing gums globally, has factories and operations in many countries, including in India, where it opened an R&D facility in Mumbai in 2011.

Fertin Pharma is primarily a B2B manufacturer and has partnerships with large pharmaceutical MNCs like Novartis, GSK and Perrigo. It is now looking for potential partnerships for the Indian market, Kumar said.

Cigarette smoking continues to be the most significant cause of premature morbidity and mortality in the world. In India, approximately 110 million people (predominantly males) smoke cigarettes, which causes around 32 per cent of cancer deaths in men aged 30-69. The use of gutkha also causes serious diseases, the statement. AP RSY MKJ SRE