Aster Pharmacy, the leading pharmacy chain in the UAE, will be operated by GD Assist in Bangladesh.

Through this franchise agreement, Aster DM Healthcare and GD Assist aim to provide genuine and reliable pharmaceutical products in Bangladesh along with varied products in the segments of nutrition, baby care, skin care, home healthcare etc.

Aster DM Healthcare currently operates 446 pharmacies in India, GCC and Jordan, including 201 pharmacies in India operated by Alfaone Retail Pharmacies under brand license agreement.

Aster has recorded 8 million pharmacy visits in its last financial year. Through this long-term agreement with GD Assist, Aster Pharmacy aims to expand its horizons beyond UAE, India, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan into other territories to provide customer centric experience and genuine pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical products.

GD Assist plans to open and operate a minimum of 25 stores located in high streets, communities and shopping malls of Bangladesh over a period of three years.

Alisha Moopen, deputy managing director, Aster DM Healthcare, said, “Since its inception over two decades ago, Aster Pharmacy has been a one stop solution for medicines and wellness products.

We have invested in our care offering and revamped the infrastructure and talent to ensure the best service experience to our customers and continued this endeavor during the pandemic to ensure patient safety and well-being. And now, we are looking to venture into a new market to serve more people and expand our footprint.”

Aster DM Healthcare operates in various segments of the healthcare industry, which include hospitals, clinics and retail pharmacies, and provides healthcare services to patients across economic segments in various gulf corporation council (GCC) states through its various brands, such as Aster, Medcare and Access.

The company's consolidated net profit rose 33.8% to Rs 79.77 crore on a 12.3% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,662.12 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22.

The scrip rose 0.97% to end at Rs 254.50 on the BSE today.