Apollo Health expects partner Sanofi to help expand diabetes care business

The company leans on Sanofi for its large insulin portfolio and fundamental research in diabetes

Apollo Health and Lifestyle, the subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, has said that the synergy with the Sanofi Group in its diabetes care business would help it to grow its presence in India and abroad. The clinical practice model that Apollo Sugar Clinics has developed could be expanded across the country and also be scaled up internationally, and this is where Sanofi's exerience would help, said Sangita Reddy, joint managing director of AHEL.

"As we look to scale up -- and possibly scale internationally -- with this model, which we believe that it is better than most of the models available in the market, I think Sanofi will be a very good partner," Reddy said in an interaction with analysts.

The company has been looking for a partner who has a deep understanding of diabetes. Sanofi fits the bill as it is a leading company, with a large insulin portfolio and a lot of fundamental research in the diabetes space. Apollo Health feels Sanofi would make a strong strategic partner who help chart the future course of diabetes care, said Neeraj Garg, chief executive officer of AHLL.

"They have a strong field force in India that covers a large number of diabetologists. As we look at scaling up this network, we need to leverage their doctor relationships and get access to doctors in many more towns than we currently have," he added.

Sanofi-Synthelabo India, part of the Sanofi Group, invested about Rs 90 crore in 2015 and holds 20 per cent of Apollo Sugar Clinic, the diabetes care business of the Apollo Hospitals Group.

Apollo Sugar Clinics has currently 38 diabetic care centres, three of which are advanced and 35 are primary centres. In FY17, it reported around 1,22,000 consultations with 90 doctors and 27 dieticians. It has posted a revenue of Rs 27.6 crore during FY17 compared to Rs 18.6 crore during the previous fiscal year.

The company is planning to touch a million diabetic lives by 2020 and grow the network to 80-100 centres over the next five years. Plans are to expand operations to non-Apollo network centres as well. The company said it would also look at developing new revenue streams leveraging clinical data and product sales.