Propelled by innovation and technology, the Indian healthcare market has the potential to increase three-folds to US$385 billion and the hospital industry is expected to grow CAGR of 16-17% to reach US$135 billion by year 2022. While these numbers speak a lot about the growth and opportunity in healthcare, the real effectiveness of these numbers lies in the actual realization of healthcare services. The ground reality shows that a lot needs to be done to make these services reach across the nook and cranny of the country. There is strong demand of therapy focused healthcare organizations and medical services set-up.

Sensing this opportunity, a decade back, to address the void for a Nephrology focused organization which could cover all Nephrologists across India, Mr. Girish Arora, Founded Alniche Lifesciences. “I was convinced that the specialists and patients in this segment needed greater attention with a holistic treatment approach and this conviction was the driving force behind the inception of Alniche,” shares Girish.

Armed with a commitment to the cause, investment from his savings, three decades of experience in the healthcare industry and crucial support and trust of the medical fraternity on his marketing acumen, Girish and Alniche embarked on a growth trajectory to give a vision of therapy focused pharma organization.

The Growth Story

Intending to cover the entire spectrum of therapy from preventive, curative, & maintenance aspects, Alniche Life Sciences has a philosophy of “Inspired By Value, Driven By Vision”. This value system inspires the company to deliver ‘Best’ in all activities and places the ‘Customer First’ approach at its center. Following this philosophy, Girish and his motivated team keep on looking for new avenues of growth and opportunities to collaborate with global pharma companies.

Strengthening Product Portfolio is one of the key strategies that sails the organization ahead of its competitors. The prime focus is to enrich each therapy area with unique products that have a scientific back up that offers end-to-end treatment.

Today, with 800+ employees and 1500+ distribution points, covering 70,000 doctors and 30,000 hospitals, Alniche is a name to reckon with. The organization is soaring high with big strides and achieving three to four folds growth in comparison to the Indian pharma industry. It has been recognized as one the fastest growing pharma company in India (Source: MAT August 2019, AIOCDAWACS). To keep up with its promises, Girish has laid down a ten-year vision for the organization with its six key GROWTH initiatives: –

• Gain market share in existing therapies
• Reach among top ten Pharma companies in India
• Open new therapy & allied healthcare verticals
• Watch top & bottom line of all business verticals
• Train operational teams to handle independent P&L
• Higher responsibilities to performers

Niche and Pioneer Products

Flawless execution from ideation to the commercialization of innovative products is one of the major success factors for Alniche. For chronic kidney disease, it has introduced medicines for all the five stages, from pre-dialysis to post-transplant stage. Its innovative products include:

Ketoalfa sachet	aimed at improving CKD patients’ compliance
Auxisoda and Auxisoda DS	Enteric-coated tablets preventing metabolic acidosis
Entasafe	Prevents PPI induced gastritis & Diarrhoea
Ultrawyte MD	Mouth dissolving oral glutathione
Complipro and Ezepro	Ready-to-use protein drink

 

In Contribution

Alniche also invests a part of its profits in CSR activities with an NGO that helps adolescent under-privileged girls to maintain hygiene by supplying free sanitary pads. It also donates medical devices, medicines, and other essential consumables to charities engaged in rural development. It is involved in various scientific programs like organizing CMEs, Symposia, Web hosting, Tele-consultations, Disease info & management through mobile App, Advocacy development, Newsrooms, Latest in Therapeutic regimen: Book Release, Practice support & decision enhancement tools & few others.

From Pioneer to Mentor

Girish started his career as a hardcore pharma professional at the grass-root level and diligently worked his way up to heading Pharma companies in India. He was instrumental in ideating Nephrology as a niche therapy segment in India. With the zeal to excel helped overcome all the hurdles and there commenced the inception and journey of Alniche.

This new chapter in his professional expedition started with modest funds, supported by inspiration from his family, mentors, colleagues, and doctors. He is witness to the pharma industry almost doubling in the last two decades. The market is growing with everyone from the Government to the public and private players and the end-customer pitching in for better healthcare services. This scenario opens opportunities for young entrepreneurs. Girish’s advice to them is:

Think big, leverage your strengths, operate structurally and take a calculated risk

Be dynamic with a vision for success, believe in yourself and challenge yourself so that you can learn more every day from everyone.

Focus on Customers: By knowing your customers, you will be able to deliver the solutions they need.

From Niche to a Broad Spectrum

Alniche is committed to making available innovative pharmaceutical products in the Indian market covering the entire spectrum of therapy from preventive, curative and maintenance aspects. One such initiative is to have entered the advanced wound care and Neuro-psychiatry segment. To strengthen new specialty divisions for addressing the therapy gaps, the in-licensing of novel products in future growth areas is a critical piece of the overall strategy of the company. With this philosophy to the portfolio enrichment, it has partnered with global pharma organizations to bring novel global brands in India including J.W. Life Sciences (Korea), Adhezion Biomedical Inc. (USA), FzioMed (USA), Advancis Medical (UK), PT Dermozone Pratama (Indonesia), Biovite (Australia), and Mastix (USA). Alniche is working on the following five key areas to propel the growth in the next decade of its operation:

• Building a strong portfolio by in-licensing global brands and novel domestic products
• Strengthening specialty-focused marketing activities
• Internal capability building to efficiently handle expansion
• Improving operational efficiencies to ensure better ROI
• Adopting and practicing compliance based on SOPs

Additionally, the firm is ready to mark its presence in the complementary market of Medical Devices and Consumables in the selected therapy areas that align well with the pharma range, and also venture into OTX products by making use of digital marketing for reaching out to the consumers.