Medical Disposables enters retail distribution
Published:Tuesday | September 26, 2017 | 12:00 AMSteven Jackson
Medical Disposables & Supplies Limited (MDS) will co-distribute Panadol and other GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) consumer goods, marking the local company's entry into retail distribution.
The other distributor is Cari-Med.
"So exciting times are ahead, and we look forward to greater achievements," said general manager of Medical Disposables, Kurt Boothe, who reported the company's market expansion to shareholders at their annual general meeting in New Kingston on Tuesday.
Medical Disposables also added a new business segment called consumer goods, which will add to its pharmaceutical and medical sundries revenue streams.
"This was anchored by the signing of agreement that brought GlaxoSmithKline consumer segments to MDS. This line of products brings a number of household names that one that jumps out is Panadol," Boothe said.
Other popular products within the line include Andrews Salts, Aquafresh toothpaste, Sensodyne toothpaste, and Voltaren gel.
The co-distribution agreement was signed in March of this year with GSK. Medical Disposables initially sold the GSK Vaccines portfolio years earlier. Then two years later, it added GSK Pharmaceutical division, according to the company's annual report.
"One of the things that is very attractive is that these are household names and are very recognisable and in high demand. This takes us in a new segment," said Boothe.
"Whereas we traditionally had a strong hold on the pharmacy network and the hospitals, this takes us in new terrain such as wholesale markets, supermarkets, and over-the-counter areas."
Medical Disposables was founded by the Boothe family in 1998 and went public in 2013. The company's annual revenue was last reported at $1.7 billion.
For its first quarter ending June 2017, sales climbed 13 per cent to $480 million, but profit fell nearly 12 per cent to $15.7 million.