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Recent times have witnessed the rise of high end cosmetics,
boasting of clinical trials and guaranteed results. Simultaneously, some pharma
companies are promoting their personal care products in a way to ensure proactive,
prevention based purchase, than the usual problem-solution route. Welcome to
the world of cosmeceuticals. Nandini Patwardhan discovers
 What
is it about soap bars? Dettol on one hand, Dove on the other and Niko yet on
the other hand. For starters, they are soaps, main task being cleaning the skin.
Going beyond this superficial similarity, one might observe that all of these
belong to different segments of the same product-soap bars. While Dove is a
beauty soap (cosmetic) and Niko a medicated bar, Dettol comes under the upcoming
category of cosmeceuticals. "In soap as a category, Niko is a dermatological
soap, dove soap will be cosmetic; but suppose you take Dettol or lifebuoy—these
are cosmeceuticals," explain Dr Raja B Smarta, Managing Founder of the
Mumbai-based consulting firm, Interlink.
This is the land of cosmeceuticals for you. Experts opine that cosmeceuticals
are topical cosmetic-pharmaceutical hybrids, which are intended to enhance the
users beauty through ingredients that provide additional health-related function
or benefit. This means that though they are applied topically as cosmetics,
they contain certain ingredients that influence the skin's biological functions.
Cosmeceuticals FAQs
 "The
core competency of any pharma company is prescription medicines. Certain
companies tie up with cosmetic players on providing inputs on cosmeceuticals.
However, the strategy for pharma companies is to wait and watch"
- Utkarsh Palnitkar
Partner-Transaction Advisory Services
Leader - Policy & Investment Advisory Services
Ernst&Young
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There exists confusion regarding the status of 'cosmeceuticals'.
Although there is no legal class called cosmeceuticals, this term has found
application and recognition to designate the products at the borderline between
cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. "Cosmeceuticals are not subject to FDA review
and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act does not recognise the term itself.
It is also often difficult for consumers to determine whether 'claims' about
the actions or efficacies of cosmeceuticals are in fact valid, unless the product
has been approved by the FDA or equivalent agency, explains Utkarsh Palnitkar,
Partner, Transaction Advisory Services Leader-Policy and Investment Advisory
Services, Industry Leader-Health Sciences, Ernst & Young. "Some countries
have the classes of products that fall between the two categories of cosmetics
and drugs—for example, Japan has 'Quasi-drugs', Thailand has 'controlled
cosmetics' and Hong Kong has 'cosmetic-type drugs.' The regulations of cosmeceuticals
have not been harmonised between the USA, European, Asian and other countries,"
he adds.
Not many studies are available in the market on this segment. Cosmeceu-ticals
are not well mapped as a segment and all evidence pertaining to market size
is anecdotal in nature. Still, the industry estimates that the market for cosmeceutical
products in the global market is projected to grow by 8.5 percent ($5.1 billion)
by end 2007. India, with only two percent share in the global market, has a
long way to go. Also, cosmeceuticals (from a pharmaceutical industry perspective)
in value terms are miniscule in India and are yet to pick up. The sector is
more driven by the cosmetic companies with inputs from pharma players.
In India, currently, it is the derma category in this segment, which is in news.
"This is because mainly in pharma, there are two segments that are growing
very well-dermatology and opthalmalogy. So from the ORG IMS, or any other analysis.
All analytics tell us, tell every company, look enter this segment," reveals
Smarta.
Another reason for the derma category picking up, in general, is the environmental
challenges like global warming that have cropped up in the past few years. The
direct impact of these issues can be observed through increase in dermatological
infections. Other possible reasons for a growth of this segment can be the changing
consumer preferences and rise in the disposable incomes.
Testing times
Elder Pharmaceutical too has tied up with renowned expert Shehnaaz Hussain for
the Fairever range of cosmetic products. "The core competency of any pharma
company is prescription medicines and every company proclaims so," states
Palnitkar. "Certain companies tie up with cosmetic players on providing
inputs on cosmeceuticals, like the example mentioned above. However, the strategy
on cosmeceuticals for pharma companies is to wait and watch," he adds.
L'oreal cosmetics has set up its cosmeceutical department,
which is christened as the active cosmetics department or dermocosmetics known
as Vichy Laboratories. Vichy products are said to combine the results of drugs
and the pleasure of cosmetics, hence the name 'Dermocosmetics'. The offerings
from this stable are recommended by dermatologists and available across pharmacies
only. They also have in place their product efficacy and results proven by clinical
testing in hospitals and in conjunction with dermatologists, states their communication.
However, currently, there are no regulations or guidelines that govern the clinical
trials undertaken by these products. But companies do mention that they are
in accordance with the guidelines laid down for the regular pharma products.
"The claims made about drugs are subject to high scrutiny by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) review and approval process, but cosmetics are not
subject to mandatory FDA review," states Palnitkar. "The USFDA is
yet to come up with a comprehensive pathway for the cosmeceuticals segment.
Indian regulatory authorities are also in the process to map out the sector
and put in place guidelines," adds Smarta.
Crystal gazing
According to Palnitkar, the global trend in the cosmetic industry is towards
developing 'medicinally' active cosmetics, and in the pharmaceutical industry,
it is skewed to 'cosmetically' oriented medicinal products as part of a current
'life-style' ideology.
"The future promises increasingly sophisticated formulations
for cosmetics and skin care products. Cosmetic companies are finding
ways to deliver small dose ingredients that do not require medical
regulations and to introduce steroids and hormones into lip balms,
which would result in production of cosmeceu-ticals that could help
to improve body mass, nail, and hair growth," he signs off.
nandini.p@expressindia.com
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Many make the mistake of classifying botox as
a cosmeceutical. But the fact is, according to the company, that botox
is a serious pharmaceutical product. Raju Nagi, Director, Sales,
Botox India, chats with Nandini Patwardhan about botox
Why do you say that botox is not a cosmeceutical?
We cannot look at botox as a pure cosmeceutical
in the sense that most cosmeceuticals would either be OTC products or
would be products that patients can self administer. Botox is a very serious
pharmaceutical product that needs to be administered by the trained physician.
Indication wise, we are in the cosmetics market, but the cosmeceutical
market per se is not the point we are not looking at that.
How is botox positioned in India?
At the moment, if you look at botox today worldwide,
bulk of the business comes in from cosmeceutical applications. In India
though, bulk of the market is actually from therapeutic indications. Therapeutic
indications include movement disorders, spasticity (cerebral palsy in
children is a big indication). Therefore, in India, at the moment, botox
is like a speciality pharmaceutical product. As far as the cosmetic angle
is concerned, that is taking care of the hyperkinetic lines (that is wrinkles
for you and me), the market here is still in a nascent stage and we need
to understand the insights better here.
How will you describe your consumer group in
India?
Look at the typical Indian consumer vis-à-vis
the typical European, or the American. In Europe and America, even the
masses have caught on to botox, as sensitivity towards how you look is
so important. That sensitivity is still not here. If you look at the markers
from here, you will see that primarily the personal care category in the
country is largely driven by bar soap sales, as compared to the developed
part of the world, where hygiene sales are mainly driven by liquid soaps.
Now these are pointing to the fact that issues that are mass issues in
the West have still not caught on. Therefore, the issues like sensitivity
about facial aesthetics are still in the nascent stage for us.
The main consumers for the cosmetics market in
India would be SEC A+ consumers—people who are aware of the offerings,
mostly celebrities who are involved with performing arts and who have
to look good—or the SEC A+++ kind of consumers. These consumers will
possibly have disposable incomes of US $25,000 and above, or an income
of Rs 10 lakh and above, and who consult doctors for suggestions and advice
on whether they should or should not use botox.
But for botox, the real market is people like you
and me, and that would basically be the upper middle class. And the upper
middle class is an area where one needs to tread carefully to ensure that
the basics are addressed first. They are the guys, who are going to be
more educated and who will have more questions, issues like perceptions,
and misconceptions will come from this very consumer group. This is the
real market we are working on.
What has driven acceptance of botox in the country?
Part of the acceptance comes from awareness. If
awareness about the product is not there, then obviously, the way the
product is going to be perceived will be different from what should be.
And there will also be myths and misconceptions. So our focus is to spread
awareness about the product and to ensure that these myths and misconceptions
are dealt with. This is because in a product category like botox, which
has to be administered by a trained doctor, there is a fear of negative
publicity if the doctors are not trained well to administer the same.
We also take a lot of care to ensure that the doctors who administer botox
to the consumers get absolutely trained, as to how to use the product,
which muscle groups to inject in? The last thing we want is doctors not
being trained enough to administer the product, or they doing so in the
wrong way.
How has it been for botox in India?
We received the first approval from the Drug Controller's
office for therapeutic indications in 1994 and for cosmetic indications
(which is for facial lines), in 2006.
From 1994-2006, therapeutic indications were where
the bulk of company effort was concentrated. We were working closely with
neuro-physicians, because they were the key customers for botox for therapeutic
indications. After receiving the approval for cosmetic indications in
2006, we actually started working on the cosmetic front and today we are
working closely with doctors like dermatologists (cosmetic dermatologists),
aesthetic plastic surgeons, in terms of teaching them basics of botox
and primarily how botox has to be used, its advantages, benefits etc.
What about clinical trials for Botox?
Our approvals are based on the clinical trials
that we have carried out, because botox is a special pharmaceutical product.
We have multi-centre trials that go across various locations in the world
simultaneously. These are exactly the same clinical trials as mandated
by USFDA. At botox, research efforts are still going on, because when
we talk of botox, we talk of a portfolio of products within one product.
This is because the product can be used for something as normal as facial
aesthetics, and also for something as serious as movement disorders and
spasticity.
nandini.p@expressindia.com
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