Chennai-based Vitalic Health Pvt. Ltd said on Wednesday it has stitched a deal with Athena Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd to float nutraceuticals and dietary supplements maker Vitalic Nutrition.
The new venture will sell products under the brand Truuth and will make an initial investment of Rs 100 crore.
“Truuth is a fast-moving health goods brand for dietary supplements. Our partnership with Athena is more of a strategic deal. We are getting access to the vast retail footprints that they are covering for the distribution of the products,†Pradeep Dadha, founder and CEO at Vitalic Health, told VCCircle.
In August, VCCircle had reported that Athena, which was founded by the former top executives of the erstwhile Paras Pharmaceuticals, was acquiring a 25% stake in Vitalic Nutrition.
Raghunandan S, who has also been the CEO of Jyothy Labs and Dabur International, has come in as an adviser for the brand.
Athena makes fast-moving consumer goods and over-the-counter cosmeceuticals. Its products include anti-dandruff lotion D'free, hair regrowth treatment Hair-for-Sure and stretch mark prevention lotions for mothers.
Vitalic Health is the holding company under which also exists online pharmacy NetMeds, which was founded by Dadha. Global healthcare fund OrbiMed committed funds in NetMeds last year and an executive of OrbiMed will also be part of Vitalic Nutrition, Dadha said.
The Dadha family ventured into the pharmaceutical retailing business in 1914. It entered the drug manufacturing business in 1972. Its manufacturing unit, Tamil Nadu Dadha Pharmaceuticals, was later merged with Sun Pharmaceutical in 1996.
In the first phase, Vitalic Nutrition has launched eight products that are available both online and offline. The products will be available on NetMeds platform apart from the Truuth platform, Dadha said.
The products include vitamins and supplements for men, women and children and other specialty products for beauty, bones, cardio, pre-natal and brain enhancements.
For offline sales, the company is doing a pilot in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the products will be available at pharmacies. The company aims to go pan-India by December.
Vitalic Nutrition is targeting sales of about Rs 350 crore in four years as it remains buoyant on the health supplements market.
"India has one of the highest per capita rates for diabetes, cardiac disease, cancer and obesity cases in the world. With our cost-effective and exhaustive product range, we aim to make it both easy and affordable for consumers to make daily supplementation a relevant preventive healthcare technique," said Raghunandan.
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