Apollo Hospitals, Sanofi to collaborate on diabetes care

Healthcare major Apollo Hospitals and global pharma firm Sanofi today joined hands to provide diabetes care programmes through the Indian healthcare major's Apollo Sugar Clinics.

Through this collaboration, Apollo and Sanofi plan to leverage their respective expertise in diabetes to provide patients with access to comprehensive educational resources, treatment and care programmes for better management.

"The collaboration will eventually lead to a joint venture between the two  companies aiming to offer patients integrated, advanced care and counseling that will help them to better manage their conditions," Apollo Hospitals Group Founder Chairman Prathap C Reddy said.

Commenting on the strategy to roll out the programme, he said: "We have around 30 Apollo Sugar Clinics at present; by end of October or mid-November we will take the numbers to 50. Our target is to have over 200 by end of 2016."

When asked about the investments that would be required for the expansion, Reddy said: "On an average an investment of Rs 50 lakh is required to open a clinic but it varies depending on the locations."

Commenting on the development, Sanofi CEO Christopher A Viehbacher said: "This is a disease where you have to target different types of care for different patients at different stages. Our role is to bring our research and global knowledge in this."

Our medicines are known worldwide. Our object is to get our medicines in the integrated heathcare system, he added.

"By joining together to expand the Apollo Sugar Clinics, Sanofi and Apollo are demonstrating commitment to delivering a superior patient experience that offers support at various stages of the diabetes care journey and aims to reduce the burden of diabetes," Viehbacher said.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for more than 36 million deaths each year world over with close to 80 per cent of them being recorded in low and middle income countries, the two companies said in a joint statement.

"Diabetes, a prominent NCD, has afflicted close to 382 million people globally, with India alone accounting for over 65 million people with diabetes and 77.2 million people diagnosed as being pre-diabetic," it added.

Apollo Sugar will be a part of Apollo Health & Lifestyle, the arm of Apollo that is into primary and secondary healthcare.