In conversation with Dr. Anish Desai, Director Intellimed Healthcare solutions

Q1. Who are the founders of Intellimed and what has their entrepreneurial journey been like so far?

Dr. Anish Desai is a trained Clinical Pharmacologist and Pharmaceutical Physician with three decades of experience in Academia, Research, and Healthcare industry with proven leadership skills, strong business acumen, and a deep understanding of the Healthcare System, including Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical,Medical device industry and the digital healthcare industry. He has been recognized for driving positive change, delivering solutions, developing talent and nurturing strong relationships with external stakeholders. Holding Senior Management Position for the last 20 years and involved in strategic decisions . He is the founder of IntelliMed Healthcare Solutions. The Objective of IntelliMed Healthcare Solutions is to help healthcare organizations achieve superior patient outcomes, as this is the core of every innovation or research. To make any innovation in product/procedure a success it is essential to understand the research and innovation & the purpose behind it. This objective must be conveyed to the stakeholders, measured and recorded for improvement from these stakeholders. IntelliMed Healthcare Solutions, through a patient-centric development strategy, helps healthcare organizations to leverage an integrated analysis of all data sources from which these requirements can be derived. We support Medical Information requests (MIR) or Product related queries from stakeholders provide opportunities to explore customer relationship management, new indications, understanding data sources, its importance and improving care management services.

Q2. What gaps in the existing ecosystem are you trying to bridge? What challenges did you face?

Currently there is no 360 degree expertise in the healthcare ecosystem. There is a need to address the needs of all the healthcare stakeholders effectively.‘IntelliMed Healthcare Solutions’ is a Healthcare startup launched by Dr. Desai with an intent to focus on strategic medical affairs for business growth, thereby infusing science into marketing. IntelliMed specializes in scientific, clinical and medical solutions from conceptualization/Ideation to launch. IntelliMed supports the engagement with external stakeholders, the 4Ps,i.e. Physicians, Patients, Providers & Policy Makers/Payers. IntelliMed helps to achieve market access by leveraging the healthcare drivers, the 4As i.e. Awareness, Adoption, Affordability & Access IntelliMed can support the entire life cycle management process by providing contract medical resources, to support 4Ds, Data generation, Product Differentiation and Dissemination of information along with Education and training with Diligence.

Q3. What do you think is the biggest challenge faced by the nutraceutical industry when we look at the global canvas from a R&D and clinical results standpoint?

Nutritional supplements including specific food components such as phytonutrients have been used to benefit human health and performance for centuries. While common terms such as nutritional or dietary supplements or nutraceuticals are used globally, there is no unifying singular definition and associated regulatory laws and evidence needed for health claim substantiation which are unique to each country or region.

With limited or no regulatory requirements motivating change, word of mouth testimonials and a tradition of use sufficed for successful nutraceutical sales for a long time. Consequently, a large portion of the nutraceutical market continues to comprise herbal extracts or other commodities that rely on bibliographical data for proof of efficacy. In process, funding for evidence-based clinical trials for nutraceuticals is sorely lacking.

The field of research for nutritional supplements and nutraceuticals is relatively new to Western society, but it is becoming increasingly important to consider their efficacy as it is in the case of pharmaceuticals. Nutraceuticals industry is following the pharmaceutical industry in several areas including quality, regulations, labelling and packaging. It is important to maintain required quality standards for efficacy, safety, toxicity, stability and the amount of bioactive constituents.

In the era of revolution when it comes to natural products, there is a pressing need for development of an evidence base when it comes to validation for production, evaluation, regulation, safety, and allied aspects of natural products. Nutraceuticals are evaluated, validated, and regulated in various countries according to their own system. We need t0 understand various evaluation parameters for nutraceuticals to improve quality and increase scientific evidence.

Q4.With the rising paradigmatic shift in a modern day consumer as they explore more nutrition conscious options, how does the nutraceutical segment establish a strong foothold as an alternative medicine amid this transition?

The current trend is towards evidence-based marketing by generating clinical trial data. The clinical trials for nutraceuticals are designed to evaluate and substantiate specific marketing claims, while drug trials document the safety and efficacy of a specific drug for a specific indication.

Performing clinical trials on finished products presents a clear differentiation opportunity. Evidence-based recommendations require a technical review of the pertinent clinical literature in which publications are rated according to their level of scientific substantiation.

There is widespread interest in supplements among many stakeholders that includes consumers, industry members, and scientists. Consumer motivations for use of supplements are broad, and usually relate to the perceived belief of efficacy, and can include general well-being, aesthetic pursuits, prevention or management of chronic disease, longevity, fitness, sport performance, and/or any combination of such factors.

To substantiate these claims requires a varying degree of relevant & credible scientific evidence. In addition to the varying degree of scientific evidence required, there are various regulatory pathways which can be engaged to make a claim on your product depending on its composition.

Q5. How do you address the scepticism around adoption of nutraceuticals which questions credibility and demands evidence based trials?

Nutraceuticals trials may be more pragmatic as they document human experiences with specific foods in the context of the human diet while drug trials evaluate the safety and efficacy of a drug in a specific disease. These trials may include both healthy and high risk people while drug trials include patients with a specific disease needing the treatment. Studies with a strong experimental design help discern between evidence-based findings and those that have not been substantiated. This trend will go a long way in establishing the credibility of nutraceuticals in the minds of the medical fraternity and consumers. However, weak, descriptive studies with indirect and correlative measures can lead to misleading conclusions for efficacy

There is a large patient pool available for participation in India for these studies. However, it depends on the investigators and the institution where the clinical study is undertaken. It is also dependent on the protocol and the follow-up needed for the study.

To summarize, in the coming years, nutraceuticals will be prominent in medicinal therapy. The success will be dictated by purity, efficacy, safety and innovation. Considering the facts and scientific evidence, the global nutraceuticals market is poised for an unprecedented growth and will play an important role globally.

Q6. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business and how are you innovating to overcome the same?

2020 has been a challenging year for the entire world. At a time when global medical emergencies were responsible for a socio economic crisis , IntelliMed was also affected .Companies’ budgets are under strain. Many projects had to be shelved due to the pandemic. Companies stopped sponsoring several projects. Connecting with people was also an arduous task ,as physical meetings have been stopped, it has been a quantum shift in the way we do business. To tackle these tough times, we have a lot of brainstorming sessions, involvement of each and every team member is critical in these times. “We are transparent with our associates regarding each and every activity, so that they understand that this is a company that doesn’t let people go and we take care of the people''. This is a company which has in spite of the pandemic not let people go. We have done a lot of digital outreach. We also have been using several social media platforms and a lot of writing in the press so as to create awareness about the pandemic and immunity related issues. We have also launched an innovative program ‘IntelliMed’s Surgical Training Enhancement Program ‘ISTEP for training and skill development. We have associated with medical associations for training and education.