About Stem Cells
These are the fountainhead of all mature cells in the body, which retains the ability to self-renew and differentiate into variety of tissues. When placed in the appropriate micro-environment, they can potentially open up new vistas in the field of regenerative medicine.
Presently, there are over 37 disorders, which could easily be cured via stem cells and more joining the list on a continual basis as the research progresses. Primarily stem cell therapy has been seen successful for the treatment of Neurological conditions, Orthopedics, Chronic Kidney Diseases, COPD and other Lung diseases, Liver Diseases, Cardiology, Autoimmune disorders, Ophthalmology diseases, Infertility and Cosmetic Procedures.
Though in its nascent stage with evolving regulatory norms and less awareness, stem cell treatment is regarded as the future of modern medicine and has opened great avenues for healthcare and wellness entrepreneurs.
Vipul Jain, CEO, Advancells, one of the most advanced and safest Stem Cell Therapy solution providers in India shared some significant points regarding the Stem Cells therapy with Wellness India.
What made you get into Stem cell therapy business? What was the need for conceptualising the business model?
Stem Cell therapy is the future of modern medicine. Seldom does generation of entrepreneurs are able to see the future and get chance to be a part of it. IT visionaries saw it in 1970’s-80’s and now the opportunity presented us in healthcare. We knew if we did not invest in Stem Cells now, we will repent 5-7 years from now thinking that we knew about it, but passed it. That is why we invested in Stem Cells because we believe in it and we are passionate about it. There was a need to conceptualise a business model as none existed. Practically, the industry is at a nano stage and thus, there are no set precedences. We have to be innovators and think of the best fit to bring technology to people.
After establishing Advancells in 2013, how is the year-on-year progress of your business?
Year-on-year progress has been quite over whelming. Our services are being recognised increasingly. Sales are growing ata pace which is hard to maintain, technology is progressing by the day and hence, it has been a very satisfactory journeytill now.
What is the biggest challenge of being into stem cells therapybusiness? How you overcame it?
Apart from legislation, the biggest challenge is countering negative thoughts of doctors. When it comes to doctors, there are believers in the therapy and there are those who do not believe in it. The challenge is to convert the non-believers and engage them in constructive dialogue to try to get them around to accept latest technology and advancement in the field of medicine.
How difficult is to educate price sensitive consumer about the facts and procedures using stem cells? What strategy you opt to convince them?
It's very difficult. Irrespective of the financial condition, people are not averse to pay for medical procedures that can give them hope. We have experienced, if you are able to educate the patient about the science, they will pay for procedure. We believe in educating the patient and counseling them till they understand the associated risks. We believe in providing the patient realistic overview of what to expect and not raise theirexpectation levels.
Elaborate on the promotional activities you take to ensure maximum consumer reach?
Our promotional activities are mainly divided into online and offline activities. We have a strong web presence with a website that is exhaustive when it comes to information. We do various web promotion methods to make sure we are visible at the right place. In offline activities, we engage with a lot of special schools, physiotherapy centres and other places of highconsumer foot fall and conduct seminars, OPDs etc to take our services to them.
With growing rage of lifestyle diseases and mushrooming anti-aging treatments, how do you see the demand of Stem Cellstherapy in the future?
Stem Cells is the only science that aims at correcting a problem from its roots. Unlike most medicinal practices, which mainly provide symptom-based cure, Stem Cells cure the disease naturally. The demand for stem cells is only set to grow and it will eliminate a lot of medical procedures being offered in today’s date.
How does your revenue model look like?
With the increase in number of patients, we are consistently able to press down our costs. We believe in passing all cost benefits to patients as reduced cost will get higher number ofpatients in our bracket. We believe that very soon we will beable to offer a pricing model that will suite the consumers a lot and we will be able to make up the price difference without sacrificing profitability.
What are your future expansion plans in Indian market? Any deal in the queue for overseas expansion or tie-ups?
We are in talks with few countries in Middle East and Asia for expanding our presence there. We would enter the market through a marketing office and would look at establishing a lab there. In India, we are consistently reaching out to more tier II cities.
