KARACHI, Oct. 21 (Focus Pakistan) — Hoechst Pakistan Ltd has secured exclusive rights to distribute a Swiss-developed gel used during childbirth, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, as it prepares for commercial sales in the first half of 2027.
The Karachi-based drugmaker said it signed the agreement with Switzerland’s Tentan AG, which manufactures Dianatal Obstetric Gel and sells it in several international markets. According to Hoechst, the product already has every legal and regulatory clearance it requires for sale in Pakistan.
Hoechst kept the money side to itself, leaving the deal terms, the price and any sales goal out of its filing.
Dianatal is a medical device, not a conventional medicine. A doctor or midwife works the gel into the birth canal during vaginal checks in labour, so the baby moves down against less friction.
The product sits apart from the company’s main lines. Most of what Hoechst sells today treats infections, diabetes or heart disease. Antibiotics make up about a third of the portfolio, diabetes 20% and cardiology 17%, figures from its April investor briefing show.
Clinical evidence on Dianatal
Research on the gel remains limited. The main evidence comes from Switzerland. A team there enrolled 228 first-time mothers, split them at random between the gel and normal care, and ended up with 183 cases to analyse. Andreas Schaub and colleagues reported the findings in the Journal of Perinatal Medicine in 2008.
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The gel helped most where nothing else intervened. In vaginal deliveries with no caesarean, forceps or similar assistance, the pushing phase ran 26 minutes shorter, roughly 30%, and fewer women tore. Both differences reached statistical significance.
Beyond that, the numbers stayed flat. First-stage labour and total labour time dropped a little, but not enough to count statistically. Interventions and the health of mothers and babies looked much the same in both groups. The researchers observed no side effects from the gel.
A later study of Dianatal found the gel safe for mothers and newborns and recorded a trend toward shorter labour, but no statistically significant difference between groups. Its authors called for larger trials.
Pakistan’s own numbers date from 2019, when the national maternal mortality survey found 186 women dying per 100,000 live births. Sindh’s ratio stood at 224, Balochistan’s at 298. Nothing in the Dianatal research links the gel to fewer maternal deaths.
Where the gel goes first, which hospitals will stock it and what it will cost all remain unknown. Hoechst also did not say whether it would target public hospitals, private maternity clinics or both.
Hoechst Pakistan expansion strategy
The agreement follows a strategic review that Hoechst’s board approved on March 24. That decision opened three doors for management: tie-ups with foreign brand owners, new manufacturing, or buying control of other drugmakers.
Distribution agreements let a drugmaker add products without building new production lines. In August, Hoechst announced a separate partnership with China’s Walvax Biotechnology.
Financials and ownership
The company reported revenue of Rs30.9 billion and profit after tax of Rs2.9 billion. It held a 2.6% share of a pharmaceutical market worth Rs1.1 trillion, which grew 15.5% in 2025, the presentation said, citing IQVIA data.
Packages Group owns 72% of Hoechst Pakistan, and Arshad Ali Gohar and affiliates hold 22%. The free float stands at 6%. The company operated as Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Ltd until a local investor group bought the business from France’s Sanofi in 2023 and restored the Hoechst name.
Hoechst’s board said in the filing that the Tentan agreement would widen treatment options for patients and create long-term value for shareholders.
Hoechst has yet to disclose the product’s price, distribution network or revenue potential, leaving the commercial impact of its Swiss partnership uncertain until the planned 2027 launch.
