The Apollo Hospitals group in collaboration with the subsidiary of US drug major Merck & Co, MSD Pharmaceuticals is going to create 200 sugar clinics in India in order to counter the problem of diabetes. Under this project Apollo has agreed to provide the clinical infrastructure, whereas the Merck & Co subsidiary will look after the supply products and processes.
On Saturday, September 27, 2008, the concerned parties inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect. Pratap C Reddy, the chairman of Apollo Group, confirmed this news. He said that each of the 200 sugar clinics in India will cost up to Rs 25 lakh and therefore, the whole project will see an investment of about more than Rs 40 Crore. 'We will set up 50 clinics in the next six months', said Pratap C Reddy. At present, two such clinics are operational in Hyderabad on a pilot basis.
