Kenvue, makers of Benadryl®️, collaborate with Association of Physicians (API) to launch India’s First Cough Clinics to advance Symptom Science in Respiratory Primary Care
Aims to support Health Care Practitioners with evidence-based cough categorization tools that enable choosing the right molecules for effective & targeted relief from cough
India, July 18 2025: Kenvue, the world’s largest pure-play consumer health company by revenue today and makers of Benadryl[1]®️, a renowned brand in cough category, pioneers ‘Cough Clinics’, an industry-first initiative in association with the Association of Physicians of India (API). As part of this scientific initiative, Kenvue plans to establish 10 Cough Centres of Excellence across India. These centres will run ‘Cough Clinics’ with an aim to scale knowledge on scientific best practices around cough evaluation and expand its usage in treatment.
The first Cough Centre of Excellence has been launched in Mumbai at BSES Hospital, Andheri.
In India, the average adult experiences about three episodes of cough per year while children may experience 7-10 episodes per year[2]. Post covid era has brought about an increase in both frequency and duration of cough episodes. Cough is one of the most common symptoms treated by primary care physicians. However, cough syrup formulations have been under the scanner in recent times due to the lack of therapeutic justification behind some of the prevalent formulations in the market.
Despite high occurrence of coughs and respiratory illnesses, 70%[3] individuals receive experience-based therapy without a confirmed diagnosis as confirmed in an article published in Journal of Association of Physicians of India. The absence of a systematic approach has often led to the use of multi-ingredient irrational cough formulations, increasing the risk of side effects and escalating treatment costs especially in vulnerable sections of population including elderly and children.
With an aim to address this gap, ‘Cough Clinics’ by Kenvue and API seek to redefine cough evaluation and management by equipping health care professionals with a simplified, science-backed approach rooted in symptom categorization. ‘Cough Clinics’ will focus on bringing updated evidence on cough, relevant molecules, and present it in case-based modules to enable practitioners to deploy it in day-to-day treatment by learning to decode cough sounds.
Commenting on launch of this new initiative, Prashant Shinde, Business Unit Head, Self-Care, Kenvue India, said, “Benadryl®️, has been trusted by doctors for over 50 years. We continue working closely with health care professionals to advance the science behind cough and bring the most targeted solutions to deliver superior treatment outcomes. We have always believed in keeping our formulations simple and yet targeted, without burdening the patient with unwanted ingredients or actives. Similarly, we are working with health care professionals to raise awareness of non-bronchodilator formulations for productive cough since there is enough evidence to show that not all productive cough needs a bronchodilator. We are excited to collaborate with API as we jointly simplify cough management with this pioneering initiative which will help provide crucial clinical training to healthcare professionals and equip them to follow evidence-based management strategies in cough.”
Dr. Agam Vora, Hon. General Secretary, API, shares, “Despite the high burden of cough-related consultations in India, standardized diagnostic tools have largely been missing in primary care, leading to overdependence on empirical treatment and missed opportunities for early intervention. We are delighted to launch India’s first ever Cough Clinics in association with Kenvue to offer physicians in primary care with specialized training and tools to understand different types of coughs and improve patient care.”
The Cough Clinics will comprise of three learning modules. Each module is designed to focus on specific aspects of cough evaluation, sound recognition, treatment decision-making, and rational treatment. The content has been curated and validated by experts from the Association of Physicians of India (API), and each session will be anchored by leading Pulmonologists.
Every participating physician will undergo a thorough assessment to measure the knowledge shift as well as a Net Promoter Score (NPS) will be collected to evaluate experience and effectiveness.
At the heart of the initiative is the Cough Categorization Tool, a practical diagnostic aid developed by leading national experts and published in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India (JAPI) in 2024. This tool enables physicians to classify coughs as either wet, dry, or multi-symptom, along with red flag signs and tiggers, and then proceed with rational, symptom-targeted treatment.
Following the Mumbai launch, the initiative will roll out in key cities including Lucknow, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Kolkata in the coming months, with a plan to reach 1000 plus practitioners in the launch year.