Torrent launches diabetology division

Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharma on Monday announced the launch of AzuCa, its new super-speciality diabetology division. AzuCa will spearhead the company's strategy of sharpening focus on the fastest growing disorders of Diabetes Mellitus.

AzuCa will become operational by April 2006 with over 300 new sales persons to service approximately 25,000 doctors across the country.

"Diabetes is becoming an area of prime focus for Torrent. Currently, we cover 2 per cent of the Rs 780-crore oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA) market. AzuCa is designed to strengthen our position and increase our market share to 15-20 per cent in the OHA segment within 3 years," said Sujesh Vasudevan, vice-president, marketing, Torrent Pharma.

AzuCa will be backed by Torrent's advanced R&D capabilities, which boasts of a state-of-the-art infrastructure and 525 scientists with a combined experience of around 3,000 scientific man-years.

Of the 7 research projects currently in the pipeline, 3 are focussed on diabetes. The first of them is an advanced glycosylation end-products (AGE) breaker compound, which has great potential for the treatment of diabetes-related vascular and cardiac complications.

This proprietary molecule can prove to be a block buster for the company.