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Practice Changing Initiatives

Physical appointments and even the referrals have been declined due to pandemic as there was no active and physical consulting going on. This is leading to increased adaptiveness toward Telehealth platforms which are emerging at a rapid pace in various hospitals and private clinics, enabling the hospitals to expand their services in multiple and beneficial ways.

Tele-ICUs are one of the biggest examples arising in today’s scenario, where number of hospitals placed at distant from one another, are able to communicate with hospital critical care units and achieve real-time services via technological advancements.  

Surging incidences of infectious disease is the factor which shaping patients’ mindset in such a way that they obliged to choose such virtual platform which making hospitals to rethink about their old practice and service models. Although, quite a good number of healthcare systems have become well-equipped with this new platform, many are still struggling to maintain their identity in this new normal of healthcare practices. Reasons might be many- lack of right awareness about the platform, over reliance on old-practice and service model, weak promotional tactics, etc. 

So, following are the components of Telehealth through which hospitals are evolving and will continue to evolve in 2021 and beyond…

Tele-appointments-

They have turned out as an amazing option in pandemic. Tele-appointment is the facility which was earlier seen at the hospitals with huge infrastructure. But the situation is different and evolving nowadays. Many reasons associated with Covid fear are the fuelling factors for hospitals to adapt Tele-appointment technology even if the infrastructure is not huge. 

Afterall everyone wants to be in the race!  

Physicians who are carrying out telemedicine appointments, penetrating into their patient’s health without ever having to see them in the hospital. This is actively helping elders and patients with chronic conditions, making a big revolution in healthcare practices. 

This technology is making impressive moves in providing services and giving entry to the medically inaccessible areas such as rural areas where hospital services are difficult to reach, which is ultimately propelling the establishment of telemedicine hospital centres in various rural areas. 

Tele-diagnosis-

With increasing work load as hospitals turning into Covid centres, tele-diagnosis is reducing the burden on hospitals. Screening multiple patients is now possible while maintaining the treatment of others. Many technologies such as china’s virtual diagnosis of coronavirus using 5G network are rooting in hospitals giving relief to physicians, hospital staff and patients regarding possible spread of infection.  

Nowadays, ESA-supported robotics technology making good moves in radiology examination. This system is already in force in Europe and Canada and examining heart, abdominal, pelvic, and urinary tract diseases remotely. Being on the video conferencing, radiologists and cardiologists are remotely moving robotic arms and adjusting settings to capture best possible images. These technologies are incredibly helpful while dealing with Corona-patients with other allied health issues. 

Number of researches are going on to develop the best technology-based methods to provide virtual diagnosis, where necessary hardware installation in hospitals to make tele-diagnosis possible will always be the matter of concern for many under-developed hospitals. 

Tele-treatments & surgeries- 

Real time interaction with the specialists providing ease in getting proper and timely treatment and therapies making patients and hospitals more adaptive toward telehealth. 

Many hospitals have adopted the digital way of prescribing i.e., E-prescribing which is constantly increasing and the market is its expected grow at a CAGR of 23.3%, will reach USD 3.3 billion by 2025. So ultimately, Tele-treatments are making the doors wide open for already emerging E-pharmacy sector. 

Various E-therapies are becoming more and more promising in today’s scenario. Much impressive moves are seen in E-psychotherapy, where psychiatrists are directly engaging themselves in patients’ room virtually and taking deep insights about patients’ problems and recovery.

Although many delicate surgeries are performed aboard, Tele-health and technologies associated with it are helping patients and surgeons in the hospitals to be at their own county and operate the surgeries efficiently. 

Hospitals having 5G network and robot-assisted equipment and hardware will provide fast data transfers with little to no latency in the procedure giving excellent outputs while performing virtual surgeries. 

Tele-monitoring & E-rehabilitation-

Post-surgery monitoring is always important when patient is discharged, hospitals are now evolving in the field of post-surgery consultation. Tele-monitoring provides a better option to virtually meet the physician while lying on to the bed at home, without struggling with paining stiches on the way to hospital. Elderly patients or patients with decreased mobility are extensively monitored with these technologies, helping them to recover much faster.

E-rehabilitation is much useful for patients with musculoskeletal conditions, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, and recovery of motor function. Doctors in hospitals can monitor the movements of patients in Yoga and provide therapy in much effective manner, allowing patients to recover much faster than expected. 

 

Although many hospitals are actively participating and adopting all these technologies, few are still not using it to its full potential. Many hospitals are well-equipped with all the technologies, hardware, infrastructure, etc but the factor which drags down the profit of some of the hospitals is- poor marketing of hospitals’ services. 

Telehealth and technology related to it are the practice changing initiatives taken by many hospitals in 2020. It is a reality and every hospital need to accept and adopt it. Old hospital practice models will no longer remain superior. Years coming ahead are already showing the clear picture of technology-based services in every part of industry, healthcare is not an exception, hospital managements have to be ready to absorb and emit all these changes efficiently and wisely.   

The article is written by Dr. Smarta and published by Asian hospital healthcare management in Jan’21 

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Reasons to Update Company’s Value Proposition

The Pharmaceutical industry is one of those industries for which developing a value proposition is not very simple and linear task. Targets are not just patients but a vast spectrum of health-care providers, payers and a number of other prospects which need to be targeted through our so-called value proposition.
Moreover, at the initial stages, when the company successfully launches its value proposition, it doesn’t mean that the purpose is fully achieved… As the product becomes mature in the market, companies have to rethink in terms of evolving their old value proposition which will no longer safeguard their product in the market.
Let’s see some reasons to update pharma value proposition when the business reaches significant heights—

1. Value proposition should not get stale – Looking back to the days when you started your business, gathered tremendous knowledge and built a value proposition which paid very well to your overall struggles. But as you grew older in the industry, became more knowledgeable than earlier, this is the point where revitalization of your overall business becomes mandatory. Revamping the old value proposition will not only reshape the current business but also re-engage you in that business in a more fruitful manner.

2. Maintaining competitiveness – It’s not even surprising that once your business grows older in the market, competitors pop-up. I think these competitors are enough to make you rework your earlier strategies towards your older value proposition in order to remain competitive in the market.

3. Necessity to tap newer segments – In the pharma industry, there are a number of segments in which a company needs to enter owing to one of the crucial factors called ‘sustainability’. In simple words, exploring different (but of course allied) segments is obligatory to march toward sustainable business in the near future.

4. Consumers may evolve – Consumer behaviour is one of the decision-making as well as erratic factors in any industry which every entrepreneur is aware of. Businesses are built upon consumers – I don’t think this needs any further explanation. It is necessary to go with the flow if you want to survive, and this flow is decided by the pool of consumers which are always ready to switch to newer, profitable and meaningful investments.

So, finally, I would say, to survive and to be unique, every company is supposed to play its card well at every single stage in their business. Value proposition is the only way to promote your business, and it has to be handled wisely.
Ask yourself why you update to newer applications in your mobile, and you will get enough reasons to update your company’s value proposition…

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Women’s nutrition in New Normal Era

“Communities and countries and ultimately the world are only as strong as the health of their women.” – Michelle Obama

I think, this single sentence is enough to portray woman’s stance as a family member and as a citizen of any country she is living in. There would not be deeper explanation of how important her health is. Women are keys in maintaining healthy families, access the health system more than men, both for themselves and on behalf of their children. Many become pregnant and give birth, then typically become their child’s primary caregiver, a role that greatly influences household health overall. No doubt, during all this, they undergo significant health events, they surely require Extra-pro-nutrients to fulfil their body demands. Every point in women’s lifespan asks for different nutrition and attitude toward it. No matter what her age is, it’s important to be aware of how one’s needs evolve.

With evolving world, woman is also evolving. While running behind kids and family, she is also fulfilling her financial and social responsibilities very efficiently. In the race of highlighting her identity, for ages, modern woman is facing many health issues which is the greatest concern for her as well as for the society.

Source: Interlink knowledge cell

Img. 1.1 Top 3 health issues which women should take care of

Stress a major culprit in everyone’s life, women are at the peak of it. Not only physical but also mental stress. With increasing demand of women in various industries, her stress is proportionally increasing. Women are more prone toward heart diseases and diabetes than men, which is the risk factor arising due sleep problems, anxiety, mood disturbances (due to hormonal changes), depression, etc. Being engaged in number of responsibilities, many women struggle with eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of sleep, exercising regularly, talking to friends or a mental health professional, and engaging in relaxation techniques and meditation. Due to this reason, it’s important to get accompanied with some nutrients while living in this competitive world.

Ashwagandha, widely known as Indian ginseng, which has been used in Ayurvedic medicines for centuries. If women take some powdered Ashwagandha accompanied with milk, it can help her with fighting both physical and mental stress. Same as Ashwagandha, Rhodiola is an adoptogenic herb, also known as Golden Root, is used for energy enhancement, to improve mood, and most critically, to reduce stress.

Along with all the above nutrients, women can focus on intaking a good amount of Vit. B complex rich food, magnesium supplements, and valerian root powder. All these are proven to help fighting with stressors and improve quality of life.

Heart disorder is one of the major concerns and women are most susceptible to it. Increased blood cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension are the underlying disorders arise with it. Thyroid is also one of the major reasons stimulating heart disorders in women. To fight with this, women should have EPA, DHA and flavonoids rich foods, which are great antioxidants. A higher intake of folate, polyphenols rich diet, ascorbate, tocopherol, minerals (selenium, magnesium) which are capable of scavenging free radicals and reducing bad cholesterol, can improve overall cardiovascular health.

Anaemia and women make an unbreakable bond if proper nutrients are not supplied. Menstruating and loosing plenty amount of iron every month, women are majorly vulnerable to iron deficiency anaemia. Adolescent girls, women at childbearing age and pregnant women are always at the high risk. Having a diet containing a good amount of iron along with a source of Vit. C which increases absorption of iron can help preventing anaemia at all the stages of women’s life. Beans, lenticles, dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, fortified breakfast cereals, baked potatoes, chicken, etc are some of the easily available natural sources of iron which can maintain levels of iron balanced in women’s body.

Nutrition for girls in childhood and early teenage

Calcium in early teenage: It’s true that calcium is the nutrient which is important for women in all ages, but it’s still more important for girls during adolescence and early adulthood as this is the age when their bones absorb maximum amount of calcium. RDA for girls in age of 9 to 18 is 1300 mg a day which can be fulfilled by having low-fat dairy products such as Milk, yogurt, cheese and vegetables like broccoli, kale, cabbage, etc. Consuming adequate amounts of calcium along with vitamin D can encourage healthy bone growth and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures later in life.

Nutrition for women in 20-30s and pregnancy

20-30s is the whole roller-coaster in any woman’s life where major changes are happening including the most important i.e., Pregnancy. Having a life (or lives) in their bellies and making a whole human out of it is not an easy task to handle. Lots of hormonal changes, mood swings and variety of body changes happen during this phase, no doubt her body and mind will demand for more and advanced nutrition. Even if she is not pregnant, 20-30s is the phase which requires proper attention in terms of nutrition to avoid future health problems

Folate & other essential vitamins: A very important nutrient which is must in these years as it is responsible for DNA replication and it helps reduce the risk of neural tube defects in the foetus. Most doctors recommend women take a supplement containing folic acid or folate before trying to get pregnant to help reduce the risk of these complications. spina bifida and anencephaly in foetus are some neuronal defects associated with folate deficiency.  Many of our foods, particularly cereals, are fortified with folic & leafy vegetables are best source of folate. RDA of folate during pregnancy is 600 mcg.

Omega 3s and choline: Omega 3s, healthy oils, especially EPA and DHA,  have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, the number one killer of women. They help building healthy brain and nerve cells and also can help prevent preterm births. They are also highly anti-inflammatory and are found in foods like fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds.  Taking omega-3s regularly can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety and can even make skin look better by reducing acne and wrinkles. The recommended total amount of omega-3s per day for women is 1.1 grams per day which can be fulfilled by diet and recommended supplements. Increased risk of neural tube defects in foetus is one of the major consequences of low choline uptake by pregnant women. It’s easy to get enough choline from our diet as eggs, milk, peanuts are excellent source of Choline.

Nutrition for women in their 40s and beyond:

Managing decreasing hormone levels as well as maintaining bone health, heart diseases and autoimmune diseases are some of the biggest concerns for women at this phase.

After menopause, estrogen production declines and bone breakdown accelerates, increasing the risk of developing osteoporosis. Women between the ages of 40 and 70 need 1200 mg of calcium and 600 IU of Vitamin D a day. Because the skin becomes less efficient at converting sunlight to vitamin D as we age, low levels of vitamin D have been linked to multiple diseases from breast cancer to diabetes and high blood pressure. Vitamin D is also critically important for helping maintain bone health.

Curcumin, an active component of turmeric, known to have many anti-inflammatory benefits. Women at this stage require supplements to support brain and joint health, curcumin can help with it. Alzheimer’s disease, one of the biggest enemies at this age can be prevented with this magical phytochemical. Curcumin is especially powerful for menopause because it is a phytoestrogen, meaning it can act as an estrogen in the body. This can help alleviate common menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes, mood swings, and sleep disorders, by slowing the decrease in estrogen. RDA of curcumin in this age is 1.4mg per pound of body weight.

women’s control over resources and their ability to make decisions, is crucial. Combining nutrition-specific interventions with measures for empowerment of women is essential. Improvement in health services of women, prevention of early age marriage and conception, completion of secondary education, enhancement in purchasing power of women, reduction of work drudgery and elimination of domestic violence deserve special attention. A range of programme platforms dealing with health, education and empowerment of women could be strategically used for effectively reaching out women’s health and helping them to build a better and healthier society.

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4 Principles of Sustainability Execution

In Covid context for many companies, it will be first priority of sustaining last year business plus growth and working on vision of the company on costumer base and productivity to improve.
Creating long term value with building competitive landscape will always be a superior factor for every organization to sustain themselves in the race. Ensuring the viable future, business ethics and sustainability management are the key factors should be considered while developing business growth strategy.

“Implementation of all those important and future building
strategies need a well-organized execution plan with participation of every single element of an organization.”

Following are the 4 principles to keep in mind while executing the sustainability initiatives-
1. Strategy alignment with clear goals- An organizational management should always focus on the alignment of proposed strategy with sustainability initiatives. Prioritization and real business commitments will hold good only when there is no divergence between business strategy and sustainability efforts. And on the top of all this, organization should have a proper and realistic goal before designing any strategy which will keep everyone in an organization moving in a right direction.
2. Sustained journey of improvement- No organization is going to strike gold in very first effort of execution (except some organizations), but all that matters is- sustained journey of improvement throughout the program. Small improvements will always help in growing faster and keep motivated while working for the livable future of an organization.
3. Polishing the supply chains- To support an efficient performance base of any organization and to fuel sustainability operations, supply chain of an organization should be well-equipped and promising. Discovering new options for necessary supplies and ensuring the authentication of available supplies will make sure the sustainable development of an organization in many aspects.
4. Employee engagement- Staff is not always about ‘ships working on the field’. Engagement of the staff is always worthwhile as they sometimes come-up with some innovative and productive ideas which could boost the business to the next level.
Transparency would be a crucial factor in here and it should be maintained to derive positive and business propelling outcomes from the staff.
Efficient execution of forward-thinking sustainable policies will surely result in impressive and profitable performance of any business. Sustainability is a trend which cannot become substandard for the life of an organization and it should be handled likewise.

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Indian Nutraceutical Needs in 2021

With the second wave on the door, people are now fully aware what immunity exactly stands for. With WHO recommending herbal ways to fuel our immunities, we are now adjusting the focus of our lenses toward Nutraceutical industry in a different and modern way. Preventive care rather than curative care is now establishing in the Indians’ mindsets. Amidst pandemic, immunity has become a topmost concern and consumers’ reliance on Nutraceuticals has increased. This shifting consumer behaviour toward Nutrition which will definitely be the story changing script for Indian Nutra industry in 2021.

Nutraceuticals market is poised to grow by USD 180.38 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 9% during the forecast period, according to Technavio report. Prebiotics and probiotics sector is expected to contribute maximum over the forecast period owing to the increasing usage of probiotics as a primary ingredient among majority of food manufacturing companies.4 areas of growth for 2021 nutraceuticals:
1. Probiotics: According to the report by Knowledge sourcing.com, Indian Probiotics Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.56% to reach a market size of US$ 961.856 million in 2025 from US$ 448.456 million in 2019. This growth is fuelled by factors such as increasing health consciousness for healthy living, rising awareness of preventive and natural healthcare treatments, growth in functional food industry, growing obese population and adoption of probiotics in paediatric healthcare. Mother dairy as a major player in probiotics followed by Amul, Danone Yakult, Nestle, Tablets India, Dr Reddy Laboratories, Unique Biotech, Zeus Biotech, etc. are expected to make a big business in 2021.
2. Immunity building ingredients: This area definitely will make a huge amount of money in 2021, as being all-equipped for any uncertainty like Covid-19 is what we have learnt this year. Looking at current situation of ‘Prevention is better than cure’, supplements like Amul’s ‘Haldi Dudh’, Dabur’s products like Chawanprash, Giloy Ghanvati, Amla juice, Giloy-Tulsi-Neem juice, Ashwagandha, etc have reported a strong growth and will continue to grow in upcoming years. According to reportlinker.com, Indian immunity boosting packaged products market is projected to reach $ 347 million by FY 2026 owing to increasing consciousness and focus towards preventive health.
3. Vitamins & Minerals Supplements (VMS): Number of new launches are taking place in this segment of Nutraceutical market in recent years. Exposure to direct sunlight is rare because of lockdown, which might result in increased demand of Vit. D supplements in 2021. Vit. C, B & B12 are proven to have Immunity-boosting properties will occupy the Nutra market along with Vit. A, Multivitamin supplements and essential minerals like manganese, calcium, iron, zinc, etc. Nutraceutical gummies, which were once considered a health supplement for kids, is now making significant moves into the adult VMS category.

Source: Interlink knowledge cell
Img. 1.1 Four areas of growth for 2021 Nutraceuticals

4. Cognition related products: The Global Brain Health Supplements Market is anticipated to reach $5,813 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 8.8% from 2017 to 2023. Nowadays, this segment is gaining popularity among many people due to rise in willingness to enhance brain functions, surge in number of self-directed consumers, and increased awareness among the students about brain health supplements. We can expect a good business in these area from the supplements containing ingredients like ginseng, ginkgo biloba, curcumin, lion’s mane, bacopa monnieri, acetyl-L-carnitine, alpha GPC, citicoline, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), huperzine A, etc.
Looking at evolving mindsets and health consciousness in people, contribution of above discussed segments will have a substantial impact on growth of Indian Nutra industry.
Now, let’s have a look at the reasons behind people’s evolving mindset toward Nutra industry:
In countries like U.S., China, and India, awareness regarding calorie reduction and weight loss is on the peak. These countries are expected to promote the application of nutraceuticals and in-turn will be witnessing the growth in this area.
Growing trend among consumers to alter dietary habits as improper diet results in increased expenditure on pharmaceuticals.
Malnutrition and undernutrition are some of the major causes which are weakening Indian’s health status. The Indian government and private stakeholders have been undertaking several measures in the recent years to improve the nutritional status in the country, as a result helping Nutra sector to grow.
Key Nutraceutical players like Dabur, Himalaya and the Baidyanath group are showing-off a rich heritage in herbal and Ayurvedic medicines of India for ages. New and increasingly dominant entrants such as Patanjali are also playing a crucial role in popularising Ayurveda and giving the sector a boost.
Our land has an ability to grow botanicals under very controlled conditions to meet organic and other claims, we also know how to produce superior ingredients from these botanicals and robust clinical research industry. With abundant availability of ingredients, expert agricultural research infrastructure and a growing number of qualified individuals in the field, India is well poised to be a leader in the nutraceutical ingredient space.
We are ‘Pharmacy of the world’ and are well equipped to produce high-quality and low-cost generic drugs. Our manufacturing expertise and excellence hold good for Nutra sector as well. Many of the Nutra-technologies are same as of pharma technologies, no doubt we are going to lead Nutra-manufacturing too. Low cost-high quality manufacturing will help us to highlight our identity in the finished product space.
The rise and evolution of wellness focused diets, such as keto and paleo, are driving food producers to cater their products in this direction.
To reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and develop the quality of intestinal microflora, probiotics and omega-3 are highly used in yogurt and fish oils. This is further projected to fuel the market growth of the nutraceutical products over the coming years.
Another major factor in propelling the growth of this sector is ‘Evolving treatment protocol’. Healthcare practitioners are making nutraceuticals part of their treatment regime to improve outcomes. Pharma-Nutrition is emerging as a vital field in our health sector.
Busy lifestyles sometimes never let us sit and have our balanced meal, making a window for nutraceuticals to meet our daily nutritional needs.
Considering the side-effects of prescription drugs, and the failure of modern treatments in delivering safe results, consumers nowadays are shifting to nutraceuticals.
Nutraceuticals are no longer just the part of preventive and curative regimen but also are employed for losing weight, make the hair grow better, or to get glowing skin. Also combating diseases like thyroid, nail disorders, diabetes, arthritis, etc.
Rise in disposable income, increasing consumer awareness about health issues, rapid urbanization, positive outlook towards medical nutrition owing to the increasing weight management programs, along with cardiovascular diseases, is anticipated to propel the demand for nutraceuticals.
Increasing costs of hospitalisation and access to information have helped consumers to look at health supplements and nutraceuticals in a broader way.
Looking at all these satisfactory reasons, it’s not wrong to state that the future of Indian Nutraceutical sector in upcoming years would be as Glorious as our Pharmaceutical sector. Let’s just simply rely on our royal heritage of herbal medicines to work efficiently in this field and see the magic happening.
The article is written by Dr. Smarta and published by Saffron media.

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Disruptions and Pharma-Nutra Business Opportunities for 2021-22

Overtime pharma industry is realising that duly deserved place of preventive medicines need to be focused on specifically in this disruptive climatic, social, economic and political situation. Recent pandemic accelerated this thought in such a way that it is not only the prevention but also the concomitant use of pharma products along with nutritional products.

The pandemic has proven that Indian healthcare industry is one of the most responsive industries for supplying key medicines across globe; managing workforce safety and preparing vaccines and therapeutics with evolving government restrictions.

With these achievements, industry has started taking stock of what lies ahead. This will likely to bring fundamental disruptions in industry operations. Even the ‘Healthcare Focused Budget’ would like to experience reforms in terms of increased spending on public health, fund allocations for tele-medicine to connect villages for healthcare reach, introduction of Phase II Production Linked Incentive (‘PLI’) Scheme to manufacture APIs and reduce dependency on China for APIs, etc.

It has been very evident that, in future Indian Healthcare industry needs to have a resilient infrastructure as well as supply chain to absorb new shocks. The lessons of 2020 can be building blocks to prepare ourselves and consider new business model.

  1. Advantages of Technological Applications:

Industry is expecting to see growing traction of “nichebusters” rather than the old-fashioned blockbuster model. The industry is looking at unmet needs and developing drugs to address that need. This “nichebusters” concept is growing towards development of precision medicines to ensure “the right patient or patient population for targeted therapy with precise molecule”.

Also, pandemic has proven that industry needs to optimize the clinical trial process. Invention of “Fast-track” COVID-19 vaccine has really been a boon to entire human race. Several strategies have been used to optimize clinical trials and reduce the vaccine generation time. This will be taken as a priority in next year for the development of other drugs as well.

Radiomics is the emerging technology which enables drug developers to gain deeper insights from medical images. This will accelerate therapy development and will also help discovery of new biomarkers that will enhance clinical decision-making and treatment.

In terms of supply chain, industry has already started gaining full transparency and visibility across the value chain with the growing adoption of industry 4.0. With this pandemic, industry has started re-evaluating their strategies, risk tolerance, and overall network footprint to address issues in supply chain. This may increase dependency in local supply chain than global one. Also, the increased adoption of digital tools, telehealth, and app-based ecosystems make patient-level data more available and hence, this data should be considered to serve the demand through patient-centric supply chains.

Source: Interlink Knowledge Cell

Img. 1.1 Disruptions Industry Likely to Experience in FY 2021-22

  1. Challenges faced by evolved Working patterns:

Post-COVID-19 industry is likely to adopt more efficient ways of working. Out of necessity, organizations have shifted towards lean organisational structure to be more efficient and productive.

The working model will be Hybrid as organisations need manage working in field as well from home as well. Accordingly, systems, processes and norms are need to be consolidate for smooth operations.

Also, in a quick response to the pandemic, industry started looking for effective collaboration for solving business problems and challenges. So, the new term emerged as “cross-functional work culture”. The thought behind this was the cross-functional work strategies will play an essential part in brainstorming, idea generation and presenting innovative business solutions. And this trend will continue to grow next year as well. New capabilities will also be needed in coming years as the workforce shifts from manual skills to more technical skills.

  1. Awareness of Patients and thereby Communication:

Digital transformation in the pharmaceutical industry was already there even before COVID-19, but in the pandemic time this shook the Healthcare world to its foundations. And patient communication is no longer an exception!

Digital leaders such as Amazon and Google started seizing opportunities to develop virtual platforms for personalised patient communications.

Healthcare practitioners stared valuing and depending on digital tools as well as tele-medicine. This technology has overcome physical barriers to interaction (especially under COVID-19), broadened the healthcare conversation, facilitated information flow with patients, encouraged treatment adherence and percolated self-management of chronic diseases in patients. One of the best examples of this is AI-driven pathological testing. This emerging technology is assisting to analyse thousands of pathology images of various cancers to provide highly accurate diagnoses and predict the right anti-cancer drug combinations. The other example is Chatbots. This is a virtual health assistant that can fill a multitude of roles from customer service representatives to diagnostic tools and even therapists.

Even, healthcare consumerism has gained the momentum in 2020. The way patients used to receive information is changed now. Now, patients are likely to expect knowing costs of medications, procedures, etc. Patient consumerism has brought transparency via drug discount cards and other online services. Also, telemedicine as well as e-health gadgets experienced a widespread adoption during the pandemic and are likely to be continued in near future.

When COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have already, there will be an impetus for patient information sharing. The entire campaign needs to manage with systems and get data on how Covid-19 vaccines are distributed, sharing data with pharmacists, doctors as well as state and federal government entities. And, blockchain can be used to be an effective tool in improving the accuracy of medical records and cutting cost.

  1. Challenges to Build New Business Model:

Traditional ways of working are quickly getting displaced with new ways. Now companies need to focus on multiple short term goals to achieve a long term vision. Sustainability and stability have become important factors for every organisation to grow post-COVID-19. Organisations need to be strengthened internally with vision and mission and this can be supported with work culture.

Img. 1.2 Disruptions Industry Likely to Experience in FY 2021-22

And this can be achieved only after leveraging on growth levers, mitigating risks, optimum use of resources and focusing on delivering results. With these four drivers industry can still achieve a strong level of continuity and grow in post-COVID era.

This article has been written by Dr. Smarta- CMD (Interlink) and published by e-version of Business World.

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Disruptions and Pharma-Nutra Business Opportunities for 2021-22

Overtime pharma industry is realising that duly deserved place of preventive medicines need to be focused on specifically in this disruptive climatic, social, economic and political situation. Recent pandemic accelerated this thought in such a way that it is not only the prevention but also the concomitant use of pharma products along with nutritional products.

The pandemic has proven that Indian healthcare industry is one of the most responsive industries for supplying key medicines across globe; managing workforce safety and preparing vaccines and therapeutics with evolving government restrictions.

With these achievements, industry has started taking stock of what lies ahead. This will likely to bring fundamental disruptions in industry operations. Even the ‘Healthcare Focused Budget’ would like to experience reforms in terms of increased spending on public health, fund allocations for tele-medicine to connect villages for healthcare reach, introduction of Phase II Production Linked Incentive (‘PLI’) Scheme to manufacture APIs and reduce dependency on China for APIs, etc.

It has been very evident that, in future Indian Healthcare industry needs to have a resilient infrastructure as well as supply chain to absorb new shocks. The lessons of 2020 can be building blocks to prepare ourselves and consider new business model.

  1. Advantages of Technological Applications:

    2. Industry is expecting to see growing traction of “nichebusters” rather than the old-fashioned blockbuster model. The industry is looking at unmet needs and developing drugs to address that need. This “nichebusters” concept is growing towards development of precision medicines to ensure “the right patient or patient population for targeted therapy with precise molecule”.

    Also, pandemic has proven that industry needs to optimize the clinical trial process. Invention of “Fast-track” COVID-19 vaccine has really been a boon to entire human race. Several strategies have been used to optimize clinical trials and reduce the vaccine generation time. This will be taken as a priority in next year for the development of other drugs as well.

    Radiomics is the emerging technology which enables drug developers to gain deeper insights from medical images. This will accelerate therapy development and will also help discovery of new biomarkers that will enhance clinical decision-making and treatment.

    In terms of supply chain, industry has already started gaining full transparency and visibility across the value chain with the growing adoption of industry 4.0. With this pandemic, industry has started re-evaluating their strategies, risk tolerance, and overall network footprint to address issues in supply chain. This may increase dependency in local supply chain than global one. Also, the increased adoption of digital tools, telehealth, and app-based ecosystems make patient-level data more available and hence, this data should be considered to serve the demand through patient-centric supply chains.

    “

    Img. 1.1 Disruptions Industry Likely to Experience in FY 2021-22

    1. Challenges faced by evolved Working patterns:

      2. Post-COVID-19 industry is likely to adopt more efficient ways of working. Out of necessity, organizations have shifted towards lean organisational structure to be more efficient and productive.

      The working model will be Hybrid as organisations need manage working in field as well from home as well. Accordingly, systems, processes and norms are need to be consolidate for smooth operations.

      Also, in a quick response to the pandemic, industry started looking for effective collaboration for solving business problems and challenges. So, the new term emerged as “cross-functional work culture”. The thought behind this was the cross-functional work strategies will play an essential part in brainstorming, idea generation and presenting innovative business solutions. And this trend will continue to grow next year as well. New capabilities will also be needed in coming years as the workforce shifts from manual skills to more technical skills.

    2. Awareness of Patients and thereby Communication:

      3. Digital transformation in the pharmaceutical industry was already there even before COVID-19, but in the pandemic time this shook the Healthcare world to its foundations. And patient communication is no longer an exception!

      Digital leaders such as Amazon and Google started seizing opportunities to develop virtual platforms for personalised patient communications.

      Healthcare practitioners stared valuing and depending on digital tools as well as tele-medicine. This technology has overcome physical barriers to interaction (especially under COVID-19), broadened the healthcare conversation, facilitated information flow with patients, encouraged treatment adherence and percolated self-management of chronic diseases in patients. One of the best examples of this is AI-driven pathological testing. This emerging technology is assisting to analyse thousands of pathology images of various cancers to provide highly accurate diagnoses and predict the right anti-cancer drug combinations. The other example is Chatbots. This is a virtual health assistant that can fill a multitude of roles from customer service representatives to diagnostic tools and even therapists.

      Even, healthcare consumerism has gained the momentum in 2020. The way patients used to receive information is changed now. Now, patients are likely to expect knowing costs of medications, procedures, etc. Patient consumerism has brought transparency via drug discount cards and other online services. Also, telemedicine as well as e-health gadgets experienced a widespread adoption during the pandemic and are likely to be continued in near future.

      When COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have already, there will be an impetus for patient information sharing. The entire campaign needs to manage with systems and get data on how Covid-19 vaccines are distributed, sharing data with pharmacists, doctors as well as state and federal government entities. And, blockchain can be used to be an effective tool in improving the accuracy of medical records and cutting cost.

    3. Challenges to Build New Business Model:

      4. Traditional ways of working are quickly getting displaced with new ways. Now companies need to focus on multiple short term goals to achieve a long term vision. Sustainability and stability have become important factors for every organisation to grow post-COVID-19. Organisations need to be strengthened internally with vision and mission and this can be supported with work culture.

     

    Img. 1.2 Disruptions Industry Likely to Experience in FY 2021-22

    And this can be achieved only after leveraging on growth levers, mitigating risks, optimum use of resources and focusing on delivering results. With these four drivers industry can still achieve a strong level of continuity and grow in post-COVID era.

    This article has been written by Dr. Smarta- CMD (Interlink) and published by e-version of Business World.

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Barriers for Sustainability

Initially, sustainability was the factor restricted only in the boundaries of organization’s reputation. Company’s vision was much limited while structuring sustainability initiatives in the business. But as we surpassed our old vision of sustainability, we now know that it’s not all about the Reputation but several critical factors like- Business values, growth-oriented functions, chasing opportunities and the list is never ending……

Let us see four barriers resisting expansion and adoption of sustainability in an organization:

  1. Scarcity of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)– Lack of KPIs leading to absence of data regarding measurable key business objectives, ultimately creating hurdles in the path to achieving desired goals.
  2. Inadequate system for sustainability initiatives– Less field force accountable for sustainability, poor organizational support to sustainability activities, lack of skills and poor prioritization of sustainability initiatives are some of the factors worsening the condition of business performance.
  3. Lack of capital investment– Less or no investment in new and innovative techniques to manage the business operations resist the sustained growth of an organization.
  4. Insufficient data and knowledge to execute sustainability initiatives- Availability of required capital to invest in sustainability activities is not going to work with inadequate knowledge regarding sustainability execution.

Looking at these four sustainability barriers, it would not be wrong to say that establishing a strong and systematic unit in an organization which is solely dedicated to the sustainability and scalability initiatives, having all the skills to continue maintain the growth and ultimately increasing the rate of growth would be beneficial to build a superior and persistent business organization for the future.

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India Market Entry: Opportunities and Challenges

India is one of those countries from where spices were exported all over the world. Once again spices have come in focus with their utility to create a value in nutrition. Hence, since the beginning usage of spices in Indian culinary art is at centre of providing diet to everybody. However, with the thought-process, practice and the influence of modernisation as well as globalisation, the focus got shifted.

How India Entry is Essential?

There are many factors leading to the growth of Nutraceutical industry in India. One of those is heritage from Herbals and Ayurveda system. India has a rich heritage of herbal, Ayurvedic medicines and spices that can stand the country’s nutraceutical industry in a good way for expansion and progress. The herbal segment is likely to contribute 30 % of the dietary supplements market in India, expected to grow CAGR of 20 % from 2015 to 2023.

Another factor is a rich biodiversity, robust agricultural research infrastructure and abundant availability of nutraceutical ingredients. India is been a frontier to cater to the world’s need of ingredients such as highly bioavailable curcumin, Ashwagandha, fibres like Fenugreek, natural Astaxanthin, black garlic, etc. 

India is a global pharma powerhouse due to its ability to produce high-quality and low-cost generic drugs. Nutraceutical manufacturing uses many of the same technologies as the pharma industry. Low cost-high quality manufacturing can help India emerge as a global leader in the finished Nutraceutical product space as well.

Also, data shows India has 108 large contract manufacturers in nutraceuticals which has opened up a vast opportunity for new entrants for FDIs. This potential needs to be leveraged properly for the growth of this industry.

India is the second most populated country in the world with population of around 1.3 Bn. As of now only urban population has seen traction of Nutraceutical products, but there is also a considerable opportunities beyond the urban segment, as population in rural parts of the country represents a huge untapped potential for Nutraceutical sales.

Market Opportunities:

There are as many as 11 opportunities in India for those who want to enter. Those are as follows:

Growing disposable income coupled with lifestyle diseases making Indian population becoming aware of how should they protect themselves from environment to remain healthy. In addition to that, lowering food quality has been an accelerating factor for creating real time opportunity in India.

Besides being self-conscious, social media is also increasing health awareness of medical consumers. As a result, individuals as well as Healthcare providers are changing their treatment protocols to ensure health.

All this is happening very fast due to Government focus on AYUSH (The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) and integrated medicines platform whereby Nutrition, Nutraceuticals, Ayurvada and other alternative medicines have chances to flourish.

India being an IT hub and having an excellent talent, intervention of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) is creating lot of space for start-ups and so the competitive landscape is evolving very differently.

There is a huge opportunity for Nutraceutical ingredients to create corporate brands like Sony as well as Phytopharmaceuticals which have been accepted all over the world inclusive of India to provide preventive as well as curative effects for lifestyle diseases.

These 11 opportunities can be visualised in the following image 1.1.

Fig 1.1 Market Opportunities of Indian Nutraceutical Industry

Market Challenges: 

Having these market opportunities, major challenges to India entry are of 6 folds. Among these are:

  1. Changing Regulatory Climate:

Lot of amendments are happening due to growing nature of Nutraceutical industry right from product definitions, approvals, health claims and manufacturing standards.

  1. The Legal and Regulatory Framework:

In case of legal frame work, corporate law and necessary steps to create an entity in India has been elaborated in FSSA (Food Safety and Standards Act of India) Section 22, whereby, compliance to operate in India is mandatory.

  1. Look-alike Products:

Indian Nutraceutical market has highest threat of look-alike products. This confuses consumer to differentiate between the real and fake.

  1. Cost Effective Pricing:

Indian market is price sensitive market. Although the demand for nutraceuticals is expected to rise considerably, the high prices of Nutraceuticals limit their adoption in the Indian market. Also, for India entry, import tariffs need to be understood for managing right pricing of products.

These 6 challenges can be visualised in the following image 1.2.

Fig 1.2 Challenges of Indian Nutraceutical Industry

  1. Negligible Government Health Security:

In India, the government funded healthcare is very limited and major expenditure on individuals. Hence, scope of insurance is huge.

  1. Tailoring Products to Domestic Tastes and Preferences:

India is a country where there a Unity in Diversity. The preferences include vegetarianism, Halal or Hindu dietary practices and traditional remedies reflecting social and cultural diversity. So the demand for product may vary sate wise or religion wise.

India: A Nutra hub in the Making?

India being an emerging market, players from US,  Japan and European countries are venturing here and are ready to leverage the potential by launching their products and expanding their portfolio according to the needs of Indian consumers.

New entrants must leverage India’s chemistry & pharma expertise and natural base with e-Commerce expertise which will lead them to be a sizable player in India.

India being on the path of Aatmanirbhar (Self-reliant), opportunities to develop this self-reliance and forming an eco-system to boost this industry will be an additional benefit for those who want to enter.

Ends.

References:

The article is written by Dr. Smarta and it has been published by vitafoodsinsights.com.

 

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Hope of Good Health: Pharma-Nutrition

Pharma-Nutrition as a subject by itself, considering one is not complete without other part in bringing wellness to life. Hence, it is that amazing combination where prevention, cure and wellness of patient are taken care of.

Pharma-Nutrition in New Normal era:

Pharma is transiting from Medicines to Food for Special Dietary Use (FSDU) to Pharma Nutrition as the food has various dimensions and each country has its own food habits. It may a fully nutritionally balanced or there could be a total lack of it.

Nutrients are best available through food and how it is cooked, use of oil, fats and the spices are used. Food occupies a significant role in Health. Health domain in next normal era is likely to witness significant changes across the world.

Beyond that it is a matter of palate and organoleptic senses issue. Few May live life with burgers and aerated drinks, few may have their own ways.

However, obesity in childhood and Diabetes in younger age makes us feel that there is a need of something like Pharma – Nutrition.

 Pharma- Nutrition convergence

Father of medical practise Hippocrates has already said that “Food be thy medicine, Medicine be thy Food and walk a mile….” which is a powerful message on the medical practise all over the world. A step beyond, traditional Indian medicines, provide a three cornerstones formula for fullness of health!

  1. Ahar
  2. Vihar
  3. Aushadhi…..

Essentially Diet, Exercise and Medicines!!

Fig. 1.1: Pharma Nutrition Convergence

To effectively respond to viral infections, pharmaceutical products can repair the inflammatory and degenerative regions that degenerate in the respiratory tract and restore homeostasis of the metabolic processes. Simultaneously, nutrition and micro-nutrients continuously build up immunity of the same patient. Is it not Pharma-Nutrition has symbiotic effect to make patient healthy?

Other way round also, immuno-protection is the corner stone of the medical practise. The preservation of the immune system is the strategic measure of public health in social and clinical management of life-span extension world-wide.

Growth and opportunities for Pharma-Nutrition

A. Technology influence:

On one hand as a result of fermentation technology there are ways of creating plant products and on the other hand scientists are taking help of making the nutrients available in precise quantity as per individual need.

 One is acting at developmental stage and the other one is looking at designed quantity for the patient!

It is during the knowledge dispersal stage where cross-disciplinary excerpts carry out joint research in time. Like economy is going towards “Shared Economy”, research is also moving towards “Shared Knowledge” and insights to shorten time and makes a meaningful contribution which in turn leads to technology concurrence.

B. Human microbiome:

Pharma – Nutrition concept should aim at searching its soul in human microbiome.  More insights from human microbiomes would generate more solutions for human beings.

Fig. 1.2: Growth and opportunities for Pharma-Nutrition

C. Pharma-Nutrition ingredients:

 The fullness of health approach should be derived from the strengths of both disciplines. Strengths of pharmaceuticals industry for its R&D capabilities, defining quality, safety and efficacy as well as standards of each molecule or evidence-based nature of discerning product can be combined with nutraceutical strengths of nutrition, clinical nutrition, biochemistry, bioavailability, bio markers, to ensure wholesome heath progress. Several bioactive compounds including fibre, secondary plant molecules, friendly bacteria, essential fatty acids, probiotics and probiotics can be manufactured with promising value proposition.

Moreover, many pharma molecules are extracted from natural plants or by technology which humans can use as medicines or as nutrients. Vitamins, minerals, curative and prophylactic solutions have been derived from many such combinations.

Nutraceutical molecules like Lutein, Lycopene, Zeaxanthin, Spirulina and others have in-built properties to prevent and also cure few medical conditions.

Optimal health and elimination of chronic disease can be accomplished by this combination.

D. Combating malnutrition:

It is perceived that a number of modern diseases are linked to poor diets and the concept of “malnutrition”, even in those who are getting sufficient quantity of calories and lacking proper balance of several food ingredients such as amino acids, peptides, minerals, etc. Furthermore, there is budding evidence to indicate that definite nutritional balance through supplement can preserve patient health beyond widely used medicinal treatments.

Emerging issues

The new ‘Pharma-Nutrition’ has to face five major challenges:

  1. Education to healthcare providers
  2. Difficulty in patenting the products
  3. OTC prone nature of Nutraceutical products
  4. Prescription limitation of dieticians and nutritionists
  5. Belief system of HCPCs

Pharmaceutical companies will learn to collaborate for benefits of patient’s health. Nutrition companies need to improve their research and development to enhance their scientific capabilities as well as building key relationship with drug companies and practitioners.

New landscape

Pharma-Nutrition may not be a concept in practise as it is observed that majority of specialities have the tendency to provide nutrition benefits to patient at a particular function where they feel it’s better to provide some sort of strength to the patient.

Modern medicines usually focus on single target condition and provide entire relief or cure, irrespective of its effects on other organs. On the contrary, the multi-target medicines (Pharma-Nutrition) may be used in synchronised way to provide maximum benefit to patient.

 

References:

  1. G. Folkerts, Pharma-Nutrition-An Overview_Springer_ www.springer.com_Accessed on 5.11.2020
  2. Tamar C. Weenen, Bahar Ramezanpour, and Eric Claassen_ Food-Pharma Convergence in Medical Nutrition-best of Both worlds_PLoS One_journals.plos.org_Accessed on 5.11.2020
  3. Niki A Georgiou, Johan Grssen, Renger F Witkamp_ Pharma-Nutrition interface: the gap is narrowing_PubMed.gov_pubmed.ncib.nlm.nih.gov_Accessed on 5.11.2020
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