UAE: Aster DM Healthcare, one of the largest integrated healthcare providers in GCC and India, has announced its entry into the Bangladesh market with Aster Pharmacy division. Aster Pharmacy, the leading pharmacy chain in the UAE, will be operated by GD Assist Limited in Bangladesh. Through this franchise agreement, Aster DM Healthcare and GD Assist Limited aims 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. Through this franchise agreement Aster DM Healthcare and GD Assist Limited aims to bring Aster Pharmacy’s quality care products in the segments of Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals, Baby care, Skin Care, Home Healthcare etc. to serve the healthcare needs of the local population in Bangladesh.

Aster DM Healthcare currently operates 446 pharmacies in India, GCC and Jordan, including 201 Pharmacies in India operated by Alfaone Retail Pharmacies Private Limited under brand license agreement. Today, Aster Pharmacy has become a household name and has emerged as the brand of choice amongst pharmacies due to its ease of access and customer first approach. 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 Limited 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.

Speaking on the venture, 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.”

Syed Moinuddin Ahmed, Managing Director of GD Assist, stated, “GD Assist was established with the aspiration to become a prominent one-stop healthcare solution provider. As such, it is our great delight to partake in this new venture with Aster Pharmacy! This partnership is enabling us to step into the new era by introducing world class healthcare products of different segments, which would subsequently provide us the opportunity to cater to the healthcare needs of the people of Bangladesh, on par with international standards.”

“With its vast experience over the years and leadership positioning in a number of markets that we operate in, Aster Pharmacy is fast emerging as a global pioneer in Health and Wellness and Integrated Pharmacy Concept. We are delighted to collaborate with GD Assist to launch Aster Pharmacy stores in Bangladesh which would provide the customers a very unique and superior wellness experience,” added N S Balasubramanian, CEO of Aster Retail GCC.  

Director of GD Assist, Farzanah Chowdhury claimed, “As we venture into this partnership with Aster Pharmacy as their operational partner for Bangladesh, we at GD Assist are hopeful about succeeding in setting new standards in the Bangladeshi healthcare products industry by making Aster’s world class product line in Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals, Baby Care, Skin Care, Home Healthcare, etc. available in the Bangladeshi market and thus we aspire to revolutionize the industry in the coming years!”

Aster Pharmacy started this journey with just one pharmacy in 1989 with a vision to create customer centric and easily accessible friendly pharmacies in every neighborhood that delivers Aster’s brand promise “We’ll treat you well”. Aster Pharmacy works persistently to bring itself closer to its customers so as to fulfill its mission of having an Aster pharmacy in every neighborhood and a knowledgeable Aster pharmacist available 24/7 for every household.

About Aster DM Healthcare

Aster DM Healthcare Limited is one of the largest private healthcare service providers operating in GCC and in India. With an inherent emphasis on clinical excellence, we are one of the few entities in the world with a strong presence across primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary healthcare through our 29 hospitals, 121 clinics, 446* pharmacies, 17 labs and 109 patient experience centres in seven countries, including India. We have over 27,200 plus dedicated staff including 3,441 doctors and 7,901 nurses across the geographies that we are present in, delivering a simple yet strong promise to our different stakeholders: "We'll treat you well." We reach out to all economic segments in the GCC states through our differentiated healthcare services across the "Aster", "Medcare" and "Access" brands.

* Including 201 Pharmacies in India operated by Alfaone Retail Pharmacies Private Limited under brand license from Aster. 

About GD Assist Limited

GD Assist Limited, the first healthcare and medical value travel management company in Bangladesh, started its journey in 2014 with the mission of providing world-class one-stop healthcare service in medical treatment in Bangladesh and abroad. GD Assist currently provides end to end services in medical value travel, tele-video consultation, doctor’s appointments, second medical opinion (SMO), air ambulance, emergency medical evacuation, corporate wellness, health cards and also acts as a Third Party Administrator between insurance companies, corporates and local hospitals.

At present, GD Assist has partnership with 184 well renowned local and international hospitals. The medical value travel management service of GD Assist started with Malaysia and GD Assist is the exclusive representative of Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (extension of the Ministry of Health, Malaysia) in Bangladesh. Currently, GD Assist has expanded its network with UAE, Thailand, Singapore, Turkey, India & Sri Lanka’s renowned hospitals. Till date, GD Assist has served over 30,000 clients, who are getting medical treatment assistance both nationally and internationally. In addition, GD Assist has arranged the evacuation of 1140 non-resident Bangladeshis (tourists & patients) from different countries during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period and brought them back to Bangladesh safely.

GD Assist is the 1st Healthcare Management and Medical Tourism Company in Bangladesh that has achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification, TEMOS (Germany) Certification for “Quality in International Medical Travel Coordination”, Diplomatic Council Certificate (USA) as “Preferred Medical Travel Coordinator”.  For it best in class services, GD Assist has also been recognized in the global arena with prestigious awards, such as, International board of Medicine and Surgery Award (2018), International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) Award 2019- nominee for "Excellence in Customer Service", Innovation Award of Health Care Revolution etc.