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The Rediff Business Special/ N Sathiya Moorthy

Herbs, sex and success: Tamil enterprise promises to post global-scale gains with Vigorous

Wong Kim Quee is a Delhi-based Taiwanese trader. He had gone around Bombay and Bangalore looking for business opportunities. He finally found the Big Op in an innocuous-looking office with a none-too-impressive background in the distant Madras.

There, he found for his principal back home, the manufacturer of Vigorous, ''India's answer to America's Viagra''.

"We have been getting trade enquiries from every part of the world -- the UK, China, Australia, Switzerland and even the US. You name the country, and we have at least one fax message asking for more details," says R K Sharma, an Indian Administrative Service officer currently serving as managing director of the state-owned Tamil Nadu Medicinal Plant Farms and Herbal Medicine Corporation or TAMCOL for short.

Wong Kim Quee's principal in Taiwan -- his brother -- had read a sketchy news report about Vigorous in a local newspaper, and had alerted the Delhi office. "We see a good potential for these products (aphrodisiacs, pills for impotency, erectile dysfunction) in our country,'' he says.

He launched his country-wide hunt because the Taiwan newspaper report did not mention details of the manufacturer or his base and ''missed'' the ''news'' in the Indian media.

For a product that has thus ''set the Cauvery, the Ganga, the Thames and even the Niagara on fire'', Vigorous had a quiet launch in Madras on December 9. The media meet was a low-key affair. And the media release, an unimpressive typewritten statement.

"But we have been flooded with trade enquiries in the last fortnight, and hope to finalise agreements in the coming weeks," says Sharma.

TAMCOL has already Vigorous pills worth Rs 2.5 million in the Indian market. "We hope to touch the Rs 10 million mark by March 31," says Sharma confidently.

Likewise, the overseas enquiries are expected to end in business worth $ 100,000 in the next three months. As an aside, Sharma adds: ''TAMCOL is the smallest public sector corporation owned by the Tamil Nadu government.''

What has made Vigorous such a big hit? "It does not contain any chemicals, and thus does not produce any side- effects," says D Narayanappa, chief botanist at TAMCOL, whose baby it is.

The box containing a strip of 10 capsules pronounces Vigorous to be ''herbal'' -- and herbal it is, asserts Narayanappa.

Adds Sharma: "There was a suggestion to proclaim it as 'natural', but that description does not fit the bill. Vigorous does not contain any animal extract (more about that later), metals or non-herbal natural ingredients. And we wanted to highlight that as our unique selling point.

According to him, it is this herbal content of Vigorous that guards against side-effects of the kind reported by some Viagra-users and other aphrodisiac-users.

On whether Vigorous is an aphrodisiac, Sharma says this aspect got highlighted in the media. "The five herbal ingredients are known to promote overall wellbeing, and various body functions," clarifies Narayanappa.

Two of the ingredients, according to the ayurvedic textbooks, are known to boost libido and enhance performance.

The 500 mg capsule contains kokilashya which improves spermatozoa, it is a diuretic that corrects the urinogenital tract.Atmagupta a nerve tonic and aphrodisiac, improves libido.Asvagandha, a tonic, drives out exhaustion and pumps in energy. Jivanthi is a stimulant while talamulika is a diuretic and tonic, the botanist says.

According to Narayanappa, the ayurvedic texts had known the five herbs and their uses for centuries. "They have been in use for ages, but it is now that they have been blended in a proper proportion in Vigorous. And it is the proportion of the mix that is the secret of its success," he says, reminding one of Coca-Cola's secret ingredients formula.

Sharma concedes that Vigorous was prompted by the news of the arrival of Viagara, but points out that "it was always there, however, in the herbs and in the Indian medicinal system''. Research started in April, and the results were officially published in December. According to him, 500 people were tested over a six-month period, and "they reported correction in general debility and increased libido. There weren't any side-effects."

It is here that TAMCOL seems to have an edge over competitors from the Indian private sector, selling similar sex drugs made from herbal derivatives. First, it has the state government's stamp of approval, which makes it all the more credible from the consumer's stand-point. "More importantly, we are not holding back the details of the ingredients as many private manufacturers in this country have been doing," points out Sharma.

TAMCOL, however, is not resting on its early success. It is installing hi-tech testing facilities for its products which will also be open to private manufacturers of medicines under the Indian systems.

To cater to a global market and meet the world standards, it has hired the services of the Bombay-based subsidiary of Swiss company Achrome Laboratories for analytical testing of Vigorous at every stage.

"Every batch of Vigorous leaving the manufacturing line will be tested for quality," assures Sharma. Already, the product has been approved by the Drug Controller of India, and a similar authority in Malaysia. "We have applied for a patent under the Indian law, and that involves time-consuming quality-tests."

At present, Vigorous is targeted at the ''adult male''. It need not be taken daily like other pills. "One needs to take a course of 30 tablets, at two a day. The course may be longer in the case of some, yet the results will be there within a few days," says Narayanappa.

Interestingly, however, Vigorous can be used by women and children, too. "It's basically an energiser, improves general health, and checks debility," says Sharma.

Narayanappa assures that it does not produce side- effects in children, at the same time improving the desire and pleasure levels in women too. "Jivanthi in particular helps in vaginal stimulation and improved milk secretion."

Sharma says Vigorous has everything going for it, including the price. At Rs 12 a capsule, it is much lower than Viagra's price of $ 12. "There are no side- effects and it need not be taken daily," Sharma repeats for effect.

TAMCOL has plans to launch Vigorous the pill (not Vigorous the capsule), given the growing `vegetarian' concerns worldwide. Right now, the capsule-cover contains gelatine, in the manufacture of which a few animal extracts are used.

TAMCOL had earlier made waves for successfully marketing an ayurvedic hair oil called Tamcol. It was a big hit with women in Tamil Nadu who generally have long plaits. "Outside south India, ayurveda is not well known as an Indian system," Sharma points out. TAMCOL had problems selling the hair oil to the rest of India.

Vigorous thus may become the "flag ship" for TAMCOL now, ahead of the hair oil and 29 drug formulations, which are now being supplied to the Indian system hospitals run by the state government across Tamil Nadu.

TAMCOL is keen on establishing its ''credibility'' through Vigorous: profits can wait. "We are looking at the long-term," says Sharma as he gets ready to meet with Kim, the Taiwanese trader, to strike a business deal.

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