Realising the unavailability of alternative vitamin supplements for children in the country, an ophthalmologist, a native of Eluru, Swathi Nadella hit upon the idea of bringing in vitamins dietary supplement gums and make them easily available.
Thus, Dr. Swathi, more than a year ago, set in motion the idea and floated Stericure Pharmaceuticals, that is aimed at dietary supplement industry to make nutrition taste good. The firm is all set to launch its first set of digestible vitamin gummies or gums under the brand name Dr. Vimmy’s in the country in a phased manner.
The flavoured gummies, according to Dr. Swathi, serve as best alternative to conventional vitamin pills, which could not be easily consumed by children, elders and pregnant women on a daily basis as some of them may be bitter.
“Vitamin gummies are common in the United States and they are available anywhere. These gummies help in filling the gap of vitamin deficiency among children and elders but in India, there are no such products. I have seen people in India getting these gummies from the U.S. through relatives, and I did the same for my son,” Dr. Swathi, Executive Director of the firm told The Hindu . “The uniqueness of Dr. Vimmy’s is they are vegan with 100% fruit extracts. Also, these gummies are not sold over the counter (OTC) or through e-commerce. Except for multivitamin gums, rest are sold only at pharmaceutical shops as prescribed by the doctors,” she added.
“Being a green card holder I have entered into a deal with three American pharmaceutical companies for supply of raw materials and set up a world class manufacturing unit in Puducherry, which is capable of making five lakh bottles of gummies every month,” Dr. Swathi added.
She said doctors in several states evinced interest in the gummies and a leading doctor in Chennai has already placed a huge order.
The product would be initially sold in A.P., Tamil Nadu and Kerala, after which they will be sold in northern States. The firm targets to cover all the cities and towns of the country in three years. Much before that, it will begin exporting to countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh in the near future and later to European and middle east countries.
