1. History of the company (when, how & where was the company started, what were the products that were initially offered, what was the market conditions back then & how has it got improved now, what was the capital money & it's source)
COMPANY HISTORY
The beginning
In 2017, Dr.Navneeth noticed the plight of women suffering from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome ( PCOS ). PCOS is a common hormone disorder that affects 1 in 10 women of childbearing age that is more than the number of people who have breast cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and lupus, combined. That equates to millions of women living with PCOS and its associated side effects. Like all syndromes, PCOS is a collection of problems that are found together. Not all women with PCOS have all the same symptoms. To be diagnosed with PCOS, a woman must have 2 of 3 possible issues: chronic lack of ovulation (anovulation), chronic high testosterone (hormone) levels (hyperandrogenism), and ovaries that have multiple small cysts containing eggs (polycystic).
Being a clinical pharmacologist, he witnessed that women once diagnosed with PCOS were subjected to treatments which included hormonal pills and metformin, which did not address the root cause of PCOS and added on to the turmoil of such women.
These women had to turn to weight loss clinics, skin clinics, alternate routes of therapy in the hope to find a way to manage their condition and improve their quality of life.
After two years of being part of the medical affairs teams of multinational pharmaceutical organizations focussed on diabetes and women, he got insights into the business aspect of the problem. Global Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Drugs Market Revenue is Estimated to Reach US$ 1,154.8 mn by 2024.
This market could be tapped with the introduction of safe non hormonal molecules (dietary supplement ) which could dwell into the pathophysiology of PCOS. One such molecule which was his core field of research was “Inositol”.
Inositol deficiency has been touted as the root cause of PCOS in upcoming literatures but has been facing considerable non-acceptance into practice in India as the fertility specialists on the whole receive much better business from the established hormonal drugs.
Inositol has been much widely accepted in the US, Europe and Canada with leading brands like “ Ovasitol” dominating the market. An overview of the inositol market in the year 2019 globally has been shown in the figure
After careful analysis of the market including the pitfalls of the current inositol brands from leading Pharmaceutical companies in the country, he decided to amalgamate his research and business experience to create THREOS HEALTHCARE PRIVATE LIMITED in February 2019. The company was established in Porur, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
It was established to create a niche market for women’s wellness unlike the other commercial pharmaceutical companies with a wide array of drugs having irreverent combinations.
3 unique combinations for each type of PCOS patient was formulated and named to have a brand recall like none other in the market. This led to the evolution of the “ STOPCOS range of Inositol’s” which comprise of STOPCOS for lean and adolescent PCOS patients, STOPCOS – O for obese PCOS patients and STOPCOS- M for PCOS patients with infertility complications. The global inositol market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.23% during the forecast period (2020-2025).
At the start, it was considered just 1 among the 61 brands of inositols in the market in India ( as listed on medindia.net). But, steadily the scenario changed as STOPCOS is now the top rated dose recommended inositol for PCOS management which is backed by PCOS club India and major elite organizations. The 2 main differentiating factors from other brands which made this possible were :
- The other brandswere available as tablet formulation whereas the International Consensus Committee for Inositol usage recommended a dosage of 4g Inositol which cannot be formulated as a tablet/capsule. The entire STOPCOS range circumvented this issue by being formulated as a powder which gave the advantage to equate the recommended dosageand also improve the bioavailability.
- Focussed formulations for each category of PCOS patients with great flavour and proven efficacy backed by more than 90 clinical trials
The capital influx of 10 lakhs of the company was shared by Mrs.TamilSelvi and Mrs.Santhi as 5 lakhs each, who were Mother and Aunt of Dr.Navneeth respectively.
2. Risks & threats involved in the line of business (past threats faced, how was the threat handled by the company, what are the current threats & what's the company's planto overcome those)
Threats faced :
Modus of operation :
As any other Pharmaceutical organization, threos began its operations through appointment of medical representatives renaming their designation as Therapy Managers in Chennai and Madurai.
Dr.Navneeth along with the board of directors planned to harness the power of e commerce and listed the products on Amazon and 1mg.
But both ways required investment into marketing.
The traditional way of Pharmaceutical marketing yielded less profits through ethical marketing since the brand recall took a considerable amount of time with investment into man power and a other usual inadequencies created in the Pharmaceutical market of India which were offers, demand of free quanitites, personal demands from the doctors and a sizable percentage to the distributors and retailers.
All of this could be overcome if Threos could reach the patients and deliver the products to them directly.
The biggest hit the company took was with the advent of the COVID pandemic wherein the offline sales through ethical marketing saw a huge decline as patients were unable to visit Doctors and sales representatives weren’t permitted inside the doctor clinic.
THE INNOVATION TO OVERCOME RISK
That’s when Threos Healthcare set a niche idea in the field of PCOS. The desperate times led the company to shift its operations completely offline with the establishment of THREOS PCOS WELLNESS CENTRE. A one of a kind centre providing PCOS management directly catering to the patients.
The offline centre was a combination of the clinic and warehouse. This setup proved to be functional despite the looming of a pandemic yielding profits and capable of expansion to other parts of the city and country.
3. Track records & unique unfair competitive advantage in areas like technology, stellar management team, or existing key partnerships.
- Rated among the top 500 start ups in 2019 by Startup India
- Rated among the top 50 women wellness products on Amazon
- A very strong scientific oriented approach in line with the current social media trend.
- STOPCOS has created a niche in the market already for being the most cost effective and best inositol formulation despite of the considerable competition.
- Partnership with PCOS club India and various influencers which have contributed to the brand recall and trust factor
4. Existing competitor details - Their product range vs. ours, what makes our product unique from that of the competitors, their price vs. ours, in case our price is higher, then a suitable justification would be appreciated.
Other brands include tablet formulation like NORMOZ from Sun Pharma. Threos products follow the guidelines of the Internation Consensus Committee for Myoinositol usage. Hence the efficacy and action is better than any other myoinositol in the market.
- Current investment size of the company, geographic area which are covered, what are the industries, the company is having key relationship with (in terms of alliance)
- What’s the investment that is being sort after, how will be investment be used, what are the details of the machinery which will be bought using the investment (if applicable)
Total investment sought –20 crores (upto 30 percent stake in the company)
EXPANSION OF THREOS HEALTHCARE( 5 crores )
STATS :
5 crores breakup
EXPANSION OF THREOS PCOS WELLNESS CENTRE( 15 crores )
STATS :
15 crores breakup
What kind of manpower would be required & how will they be identified & hired, what is the strategy to reach customers, what type of promotional activities are being carried out & isproposed to be carried out, what will be the marketing mix & it’s feasibility.
We would require a team of therapy managers, doctors, nutritionists, marketing specialists, HR, treasurer, admin managers for expansion working in tandem.
They will be recruited via posts on social media and other hiring platforms through interviews.