TECHINVENTION LIFECARE – ON A MISSION TOWARDS ENABLINGGREATER HEALTH EQUITY

TECHINVENTION LIFECARE – ON AMISSION TOWARDS ENABLINGGREATER HEALTH EQUITY

Driven by the imperative to drive positive change where it is needed most in the developing world, Syed S Ahmed, Director & CEO, Techinvention Lifecare Pvt. Ltd.started his journey to make global health equity a reality.

Techinvention chooses to look to the future with hope rather than lookaway in despair. Their mission is to meet and triumph the challenge of makinghealth equity available to all. They have successfully channelizedtheirfocus towards tackling a precise crisis – making essential vaccines andbiopharmaceuticals acceptable, affordable and accessible in the developingworld. 

The problem is ridden with complexities, but Techinvention is committedto chipping away at it piece by piece, with innovative strategies, one projectat a time. They offer expertise and support to pharmaceutical and biotechcompanies, governments and investors so together they can make a difference tothe shared world.

THE MAN BEHIND THE IDEA

Syed S Ahmed, Director & CEO,Techinvention Lifecare Pvt Ltd comes with more than two decades of experiencein leading strategic healthcare projects in the developing world. During thistenure, he established a robust vaccine business infrastructure from scratch inover 30 countries across Latin America, Africa, CIS, Middle East, & SouthEast Asia with innovative business models and strategic partnering.

In an exhilarating conversation with the Startup City Magazine, Syedenlightened us about his corporate ethos, plans, associations, beliefs, marketscenario and more; 

TSC: Doyou believe you are 'The Best Company of the Year', if yes, how?

Syed: Yes. Our focus is on vaccines for the developing worldwhich means that we are uniquely positioned to confront a global problemhead-on with prevention than treatment.. Vaccines are amongst the best of toolsto prevent disease in the first place, thereby negating e the need forexpensive treatment, which more often than not is out of bounds, in terms ofaccess and cost, for most people around the world. We have several firsts toour credit: 

• We pavedthe way for local vaccine development by enabling the first successfuldevelopment of a contemporary recombinant vaccine in Turkey
• Wehelped set up the first Vaccine manufacturing facility in Central America
• Weoversaw the first successful deployment of a high-end vaccine from East Asiainto Saudi Arabia.
• Our teamis small but mighty in its shared vision for a more equitable future. We havebeen growing exponentially year on year since our inception in 2016. 

TSC: Whatnature of clients are you associated with currently? 

Syed:Our clients are primarily those organizations in the developing worldwho are aspiring to develop and manufacture vaccines to protect theircountries/region from vaccine-preventable diseases. Depending on the country oforigin, they include:

• Publicsector undertakings 
• Public-PrivatePartnerships 
• Private-Publicacademia partnerships
• Privatefirms

TSC: Whatnature of market strategies do you follow?

Syed:Almost every project starts with a comprehensive feasibility study thatincludes prevailing vaccines preventable diseases, current and future immunizationprograms, the most appropriate model to pursue local development-manufacturing,staging, financials etc. The next step is securing funding after which theproject gets initiated. The project is supported till the stage of successfulcommercialization. This aspect of "Concept to Commercialization' has become thecore competence we are increasingly defined by.

TSC: Howdo you treat competition; does it help in growth?

Syed:With Respect! Their presence encourages us to always stay two in termsof technology and innovation. We have even collaborated with competition for asuccessful project outcome on quite a few initiatives. We offer; 

• A 360-degreeProject perspective.
• Supportfrom Concept to Commercialization
• Apropositionthat's Cost-effective yet highly compliant to the regulatoryrequirements and best of Quality aspects.

TSC: Howeffectively does your brand infuse innovation with business?

Syed:Since the projects are mostly in the developing countries it's importantto have an appropriate blend of cost and compliance dovetailed withContemporary technology and innovation.

TSC: Howdo you choose your target market, what's the analysis that goes into it?

Syed:The vaccine industry from developing countries has indeed transformedand today accounts for the largest share by volume to global vaccine supplieswith India being ahead. Amongst the developing countries, priority is given:

• ToMiddle-Income Countries that have no access to free vaccine supplies from theUN Healthcare organizations. 
• Also, toprogressive developing countries that are likely to graduate out of the freesupplies in due course.
• Tocountries where there is a birth cohort of more than 0.5 million babies. 
• Tocountries where there is a state policy that supports local vaccine developmentand manufacturing. 

TSC: Doesthe government play any role for your industry, if yes; is there anything youbelieve should change?

Syed:Yes, in most of the developing countries the procurement and supply ofvaccines in the public immunization program are all managed by Governments.Hence, Government policy matters to the localization projects on developmentand manufacture. Public-private partnerships can accelerate vaccinelocalization projects and can be considered. 

TSC: Inthe next five years, do you believe your brand would have achieved the statusit was seeking? 

Syed:We aspire to have a leadership position in supporting vaccinelocalization projects in the developing world from 'concept tocommercialization' and are well on our way towards achieving our goals.

TSC: Doyou remember any complex situation the brand faced and overcame like apro? 

Syed:When we took up a mandate to support a vaccine localization project inNicaragua, it just seemed impossible to achieve given the: distance, time zone,language, culture, availability of local talent etc. But with a differentiatedstrategy, an unconventional approach and some out of the box thinking wemanaged to complete the task to the satisfaction of the authorities and theclient. To the extent this initiative features amongst the top state of the artvaccine manufacturing projects in Latin America.

TSC: Whatcore values and compliances are followed by the company to maintain the nameacross the market?

Syed:Securing a WHO (World Health Organization) Prequalification from thespecific site for the targeted vaccines is central to and at the core of everyproject. This gets institutionalized into every aspect from the Basis of designstage until the commercial manufacturing stage.

TSC: Whatare the plans ahead for the company? 

Syed:In line with the global recommendations to pursue the concept of 'OneHealth' (Protecting -Humans, animals and the environment), we are gearing up totake on Animal vaccine projects in the developing world as a next step (withvet vaccine projects that protect animals)

TSC: Whatgood is your brand doing for the society (in terms of CSR)? 

Syed:Since our focus is on vaccines in the arena of preventive healthcare,every project that we undertake contributes significantly from a socio-economicperspective to the specific country, region and the developing world at large.It further helps in building vaccine security to protect againstdiseases. 

"Our purpose 'TowardsGreater Health Equity' fits in with our aspiration to contribute in whateverway possible to a future wherein' Access to high quality contemporarypreventive healthcare; does NOT remain the 'sole privilege of the affording few'"

Syed S Ahmed