How this cancer survivor bridging gaps in India's healthcare delivery system

Medical devices have been prohibitively expensive and import-dependent, while customers from non-metro cities and villages seemed to be on never-ending waitlists for receiving latest innovations. In an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz, Romita Ghosh, Founder and CEO of MedSamaan, spoke about how she had impacted the lives of more than 2,500 patients, and won nine awards within one year of inception of her startup. She is a cancer survivor and has expanded her business to address the huge gaps in healthcare delivery, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas. Remembering the familiar scenes during her own treatment, she felt an innate need to channelise her growing expertise in technology towards her core competence in healthcare, to create an AI-enabled platform that would bring a paradigm shift in healthcare accessibility, and truly make medical device availability and affordability a reality for every stakeholder in the healthcare system

What is the story behind your startup? What inspired you to launch MedSamaan?

As a teenager, I diagnosed with cancer and witnessed firsthand the struggles faced by terminally ill patients – the lack of affordable care, delay in accessing innovations in therapy, and the hopelessness associated with the disease. These experiences left a deep impression on my psyche, making resolve to 'do something' to improve healthcare scenario.

Choosing to pursue my interest in translational research, I joined Tata Centre for Cancer Research as an associate to work on apoptosis. However, research results take years to evolve into usable products, and I was keen to make an impact that was quick, effective, and tangible. Choosing to switch over from academia to industry, I founded my first healthcare startup Admirus in 2011.

Admirus gradually grew from a one-woman company to a place of eminence in the healthcare regulatory space, often being invited by trade organisations and embassies to help their respective manufacturers launch their medical devices in India. Later, I expanded the business to address the gaps in healthcare delivery, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.

MedSamaan is my fourth startup, founded in 2018, and by the end of the same year it had impacted the lives of more than 2,500 patients, and won nine awards in the process. Inspiration came in the form of heartfelt messages received from kin of patients whose lives had been saved by MedSamaan's interventions, as well as from the goodwill that the startup generated in rural communities.

What kind of challenges you want to address, while initiating the startup?

I had long foreseen the need for creating an ecosystem that encouraged Indians to participate actively in preventive healthcare to protect against large-scale infections of the future. MedSamaan had been making available the latest medical devices from domestic and overseas manufacturers seamlessly to customers, post stringent quality control.

However, the near-non-existence of a preventive care concept in the national psyche had posed severe challenges in convincing the direct-to-consumer (D2C) category. Our team had been virtually shouting even before the pandemic, but customers have now understood after experiencing Covid-19. Increased awareness on personal health and hygiene has led to repeat buyers of MedSamaan's products.

Assured quality and delivery timelines, coupled with unique post-sales services have been the vehicles for word-of-mouth recommendations, especially in tier-3 and tier-4 cities where the startup's entrenched presence has yielded first-mover advantages hitherto unseen. This has led to the brand's foray into newer geographies, as well as into newer verticals like manufacturing and research.

Did the pandemic come as a blessing in disguise to support your business?

Realizing that masks would be the need of the hour to prevent Covid-19, we launched 'Masklovers' in 2020, as an endeavour to bring high fashion and healthcare together. Inspired by frontline warriors - both at the borders as well as those battling the pandemic - we introduced two ranges of uniquely designed masks - Fauji Love and Corona Combat.

These masks are lightweight and made of eco-friendly washable material, and have seen huge sales. The foray into apparel led to WeEmpowerAsia and the DO School including Industry Disruptor Program, and earned us much praise for supporting sustainable fashion. The pandemic also forced us to think out of the box to meet commitments made to clients.

When manufacturers in North India were charging exorbitant rates for their sanitisers, we took a bold decision to launch our own brand of sanitisers through white-labelling within one week. Since then, there has been no looking back - the company has sold more than ten thousand bottles, and counting! Our team innovated in almost every aspect of the business to have far-reaching impact.

How has your products helped the customers in the battle against Covid-19? Please give a brief description of your platform and its efficiency?

MedSamaan has been actively associated with efforts to contain the spread of corona virus by supplying critical items to the military, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, impacting 10,000 families in Delhi alone in 2020. As a strong advocate of anti-hoarding practices, MedSamaan has been using technology to forecast the likely requirement of critical items like masks, gloves, PPE Kits and sanitizers.

This ensured adequate availability of masks for customers, once the critical supplies had been catered for. The startup's tech-based supply chain, coupled with offline resources has ensured an unhindered supply to various stakeholders. In May 2020, most pharmacies in a number of clusters in South West Delhi were completely dependent for their critical supplies.

The startup was able to tide over the logistics crisis almost immediately by simply augmenting its existing offline resources. The sales force on their bikes and bicycles, and the top management in their personal cars individually supplied critical items to ensure last-mile delivery to hospitals, pharmacies, doctors and even to the common citizens.

What technologies and strategies are being used on your platform to deliver the products?

Automated and AI-enabled supply chain processes have been an integral part of MedSamaan's value proposition. Inventory management and supply chain continuance are the keys to business survivability. By creating a strong brand loyalty through supply of quality products at extremely competitive rates, the startup has replicated this mantra across product categories to remain a favourite of customers.

This year, MedSamaan's supply chain mapping has enabled the startup to identify opportunities and challenges, as well as strengths and weaknesses in the supply chain, and accordingly design and implement interventions that have ensured expeditious supply of critical Covid-related equipment to the customers across the country.

During the second wave of Covid-19, our well-planned stocking helped the startup not only to serve the needs of its old customers, but also emerge as one of the few players that has become known for literally pulling a rabbit out of hat, in the way it has arranged for pulse oximeters, concentrators, masks and nebulizers at jaw-dropping cheap prices when these products were unavailable in the market.

Can you throw some light on the innovative products?

Due to the extremely contagious nature of the virus, reusability of personal protecting equipment (masks, gloves and other kits) pose a grave risk to users unless thoroughly disinfected. The shortage of raw material, and sky-rocketing prices, aggravated by unscrupulous suppliers hoarding items to create artificial shortages, had forced the government to procure PPE kits at very high costs in 2020.

When fake medical devices and exorbitant prices had threatened to exacerbate the shortage, MedSamaan came up with a commercially viable and clinically proven alternative to sterilise and safely reuse the PPE kits to overcome shortages and affordability so that the government could undertake testing without compromising on health workers' safety, or unduly expending funds.

We have designed a UV-C Sterilizer – RoAR – to sterilise masks and PPE kits with powerful UV rays, and make the kits and masks safe and ready for re-use. The prototype was cleared by an eminent jury comprising of doctors and scientists. This has led to an award at the Stree Shakti Covid 19 Challenge, organised by UN Women and NITI Aayog.