14 BRAND WORLD BHUBANESWAR | WEDNESDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2018 >

SOHINI DASMumbai,16 October

There are two reasonscynics attribute to thegovernment’s new

found enthusiasm for itspharmaceutical retail initia-tive, the Jan Aushadhi stores.One is that it ties in neatlywith the ongoing healthcareplan that the prime ministerhas put his weight behindand secondly, its name,Pradhan Mantri BharatiyaJanaushadhi Pariyojana(PMBJP) is a perfect oppor-tunity for the ruling party totag its name to a pan-Indianpro-poor initiative. Be that asit may, the question really iswhether the marketing planfor Jan Aushadi can help cre-ate a reputable branded retailchain for generic medicines?

Jan Aushadi stores are achain of retail shops thatstock generic-generic medi-cines, which are differentfrom branded generics thatare supplied by many bigpharma companies. Genericgenerics are typically madeby small and medium sizedmanufacturers and publicsector pharma units. SachinKumar Singh who tookcharge as the CEO of Bureauof Pharma PSUs of India(BPPI) sometime back, helmsthe Jan Aushadi initiative.

A problem of trustTo build the old and in manycases, crumbling infrastruc-ture of stores into a success-ful brand, Singh has to firstfight a perception battle.Generic generics are not seenas quality of medicines andhe has to create a brand thatcan be trusted to deliver thesame. Secondly he has toensure that the stores do notstock out, even as he lays theroadmap for a rapid expan-sion of outlets.

The scheme has had abumpy ride so far, there havebeen three top level exits in thelast three years. It has alsobeen through a couple of namechanges. The present PMBJPreplaces the earlier PradhanMantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana(PMJAY). Not only does it con-tain the initials of the party inpower, it is riding (as is the casewith all government initia-tives) on the prime minister’sbrand power. All ads carry aphotograph of Prime MinisterModi and the message seemsto be that trust in the man isequivalent to trust in the med-icines these stores dispense.

Can a brand, especially ina sector such as pharmaceu-ticals, ride on the prime min-ister’s popularity? A senioradvertising and marketingprofessional says, on condi-tion of anonymity, that the

government may well bebarking up the wrong treewith Jan Aushadi. He doesnot go into the branding prin-ciples at stake here but asks,“Is the government trying todo too many things to fix thecountry’s healthcare system?Or should it just focus on themore fundamental things,like ensuring that qualitytreatment, doctors and med-icines are available at the pri-mary health centres. Poorpatients can get treated holis-tically at these centres.” Hebelieves that the systemneeds fixing so that the poorget free treatment and medi-cines at PHCs (public health-care centres).

Besides trust is not as eas-ily won. Even if the primeminister does have a phe-nomenal fan following, it isunlikely to rub off on thequality of the medicines sold.

Affordable, not cheapAnother challenge is bring-ing in customers in all geog-raphies across incomegroups. “There is no tradename to ride on in case of JanAushadhi medicines andpeople tend to associate any-thing that is cheap and soldby the government to be ofpoor quality. This is why it isunlikely to do well in the

cities. It can do well in thehinterland, however, main-taining a supply chain is atough ask,” said a senior exec-utive from a pharma firm.But then pharma firms aregoing all out to supply brand-ed generics into the hinter-land, thereby denting thegovernment’s efforts.

The problem is that cheapmedicines tend to be associ-ated with cheap quality andservice. The generic medi-cines drive that was rolled outa decade back in November2008 has suffered from allthese problems. Supply hasbeen erratic too and avail-ability, an issue.

Till March 2012, only 157Jan Aushadhi stores wereopened and many of theseshut down eventually. Areport written up inDecember 2012 said that thescheme suffered from poorsupply chain management(including frequent stock outsituation at stores), over-

dependence on supportfrom state governments,limited basket of drugs(only 85 medicines spreadacross 11 therapeutic cate-gories), non-prescriptionof generic medicines byphysicians and such issues.

In the last couple ofyears, some problems havebeen addressed. The num-ber of stores increasedfrom 2,091 last year to4,099 stores now, accord-ing to a recent CLSA report.

By end 2019, around 5,000stores are expected to befunctional. Singh is also try-ing to take steps to boost theavailability of drugs.

The CLSA report claimedthat medicines are now testedat a NABL-accredited laborato-ry to address perception relatedto the quality of drugs. “Tryingto change perception is a goodmove. However, in doing so, ifthe quality of generic-genericmedicines has to match that ofbranded generics, one mightfind it difficult to sell it thischeap,” said an official who didnot wish to be named.

On the bright side, somestores have seen a spurt indemand. The Mumbai store(near Borivali) has seen pre-scriptions handled double in ayear, claimed CLSA). The storegets people in the low andmiddle income group andretired people (with 60 per cent repeat customers).It is also seeing footfalls fromcertain upper class customersas well, the report claimed.

Most drugs in India arebranded-generics or basicallycopy-cat drugs (of a certainpatented molecule) soldunder trade names. Generic-generic medicines do not car-ry a trade name, are cheaper(almost 50-90 per cent) andtargeted at the poor.

The number of Jan Aushadi stores has doubled overthe past year and the government is working toimprove its stocking and distribution policies

Medicine’s newmarketing menCan the government change customer perceptions abouta decade-old generic drug distribution programme?

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> BS SUDOKU # 2596

SOLUTION TO #3169

SOLUTION TO #2595

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> THE BS CROSSWORD # 3170