Everyday we hear of new researches and inventions made in the healthcare industry, worldwide. A new drug, a technology, a device that could possibly solve the unanswered questions of today are being devised by highly-regarded scientists, academic researchers, etc. However, the cost of developing and manufacturing this is very high and only a certain, privileged part of the society can afford them. This doesn’t solve the problem of uplifting global health, even today.
A leading Indian healthcare organization, TechInvention Lifecare Pvt. Ltd. is working relentlessly to bring health equity to the world. It offers solutions to the healthcare providers to combat manufacturing costs and more, supporting them from the first step of the process to last. This has radically improved the reach of high-end treatments and solutions to all at affordable prices. Mr. Syed S Ahmed, the Founder of TechInvention, started the company believing that health is the fundamental right of all. With immense experience in the field of biotechnology and pharma, he has led TechInvention to profound success. To know more about this prominent company, we bring to you an exclusive interview with Mr. Ahmed.
- What was your motivation behind establishing TechInvention Lifecare? How has this journey been throughout the years?
We’ve worked in developing markets for about two decades now and as it was destined to, led to a telling epiphany. We realised that high-end biotech products (including vaccines) were the privilege of only the affording few. There were consistent demand-supply gaps in the developing world, and these countries largely depend on imports. While the authorities were encouraging local manufacture with a view to healthcare security, but there were challenges aplenty to making this happen.
We established TechInvention to tackle these challenges. We put a framework in place that integrates all critical stakeholders needed to enable local manufacturing of high-end biotech products, including vaccines. The journey has and continues to be exciting and challenging every day. We come into work with a spring in our step, excited that the work we do is bringing about ‘greater health(care) equity’.
- What are the values that TechInvention abides? What is the vision and mission of the company?
Our vision is to have a positive impact on lives in the developing world by enabling access to high-end biotech products that are compliant and affordable. Our mission or purpose is to facilitate self-sustainability by enabling indigenous manufacturing of high-end biotech products, so the demand-supply gap is bridged. As an organisation, we are driven to lead, often where no one else has thought to go; to find solutions to complex challenges so we can make a better future possible today; to innovate for our customers and partners in an environment of trust and empowerment.
- Dedicated to bringing health equity, what are the unique services that TechInvention offers?
Invariably every project starts with a comprehensive project feasibility study; an all-encompassing road map that starts out with disease patterns specific to the country and ends with project ROI. Once all stakeholders involved in the project approve this roadmap, we start the next phase, which is project execution that only concludes at commercial batch manufacturing. We have an excellent team of cross-functional experts, each of whom delivers and manages essential outsourced services.
- How are these services benefiting your clients, and how are they revolutionising the healthcare industry, as a whole?
For the customer, we are a ‘One Point Responsible Contact’ that leads and manages these high-end biotech projects from concept to commercialisation. With this approach, as our track record shows, we’ve enabled many successful outcomes that seemed impossible in the developing world — for example, our vaccine manufacturing project in Nicaragua.
- Among so many contemporaries, how has TechInvention ensured to stay at the top through all these years? What features mark it unique?
We don’t have many contemporaries in the industry, particularly in the biotech products arena. That said, we’re continually looking future-wards, evolving our proposition. Our proposition is always customised, contemporary, compliant and cost-effective for every country and every project, and that’s how we stay ahead of the curve.
- Fighting one of the most difficult problems in the healthcare industry, what are the challenges you faced and what are the biggest opportunities that knocked on your door? What has been your strategy to overcome all the challenges?
The biggest challenge by far is the absence of an ecosystem in developing countries that can support high-end biotech projects, including a shortage of skilled technical human resources, access to funding, and most importantly making the product affordable when locally manufactured especially given the high overhead costs that go to ensuring compliance with the highest standards. Our approach to these challenges is to enable the setting up of an all-encompassing ecosystem as a whole rather than just the project.
- What are the latest developments disrupting the healthcare industry? How does TechInvention ensure to stay abreast of all the new advancements?
When it comes to disease management in specific:
- While in the last decade there’s focus aplenty on prevention than just treatment (on vaccines for instance) the current trends indicate probable emphasis on Predictive Medicine and Personalized medicine.
- TechInvention is in touch consistently with a few Key Opinion Leaders in the said fields. As and when appropriate TechInvention would work towards enabling access by setting up an ecosystem/infrastructure in association with concerned stakeholders in the developing world.
- Kindly tell us your take on the market scenario of healthcare in India. Where do you think we are heading?
As the Indian Pharma Industry, we are making significant inroads on our global outreach. India accounts for:
- Supplies of more than 50% of human vaccines used worldwide by volume
- Highest number of US FDA approved plants outside of the US
- Maximum number of ANDAs filed over the last few years
At TechInvention, we’re focused on taking India’s technology and talent to the developing world.
- Mr Syed S Ahmed, please tell us something about yourself and about your contribution towards the company and the industry.
Before I established TechInvention, I worked in various pharma and biotech companies, across more than 40 countries in the developing world. I felt a dire need for an organisation that could integrate organisations from different specialities, including product development, engineering, manufacturing, clinical research, regulatory to support successful project outcomes in the biotech space. It was a long-cherished dream to focus on initiatives from a socio-economic perspective. While I know we have a long way to go before we can make a sustainable impact, TechInvention seems to have taken the first few steps in enabling these ideals.
- Being a leading entrepreneur, what would you advice the upcoming leaders or budding entrepreneurs in the healthcare segment?
My 3P mantra of pragmatism, patience and persistence. There is no better scenario than when your ‘passion becomes your profession.
- What are your plans for the company? Where do you see it in the years to come?
While we’ve been largely focused on high-end biotech products for humans, we intend to expand to animal health, in the biotech space. Humans, animals and the environment are inextricably linked, something we all need to remember and exploit in our modern approach to healthcare – ‘One World One Health’.
