Dr. Ravi Kumar Meruva
Chairman, Founder and Managing Director, Sensa Core Medical Instrumentation
What are the breakthrough ideas that you suggest to India in your industry?
Sensacore introduced Three key products in In-Vitro Diagnostics market in last 10 years, all indigenously designed, developed and manufactured at state of the art 100,000 Sqft Manufacturing facility, located in 5 Acre landscaped campus.
First one was India’s First Universal Electrolyte Analyzer which measures Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, pH, Chloride, Lithium and bicarbonate in whole blood, serum, plasma and Urine using the ISE technology. Sensacore’s Electrolyte Analyzers enjoys Monopoly Cult status in India and competes with 25 different US/Europe/Chinese/Korean/Japanese brands and commands 55% of market share in India and will control record 75% of the market share by 2020. With installation base exceeding 10,000, till today Sensacore is still the only manufacturer of Electrolyte Analyzers in India. And its strength comes from the most stable and economical electrodes that are patented by Sensacore.
Second one is India’s First Arterial Blood Gas Electrolyte Analyzer (a must for ICU) which measures, pH, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Sodium, Potassium, Hematocrit (Hemaglobin), Oxygen Saturation, Anion Gap, Base Excess, Chloride, Bicarbonate and ionized Calcium. There are approximately 12 ABGE manufacturers in the world predominantly dominated by USA (Abbott, Alere, OPtiLion, Nova Biomedical, Medica, Instrumentation Lab) and European (Roche, Radiometer, Seimens) Chinese (Edan) and Japanese (Techno Medica). On average the cost per test for ABGE is 300 rupees/test and Sensacore launched the Analyzer with cost per test that is 10 times cheaper than the nearest competitor (30 rupees/test). Within its Launch, Sensacore ABGE analyzers has been adapted by 600 hospitals in just about an year. Sensacore has brought the ABGE analyzer within reach of every hospital (big and small) with its most affordable ABGE Analyzer which also costs 1/5 the cost of the ABGE made by US/European Belwether companies. We expect to attain Monopoly cult status in ABGE in 3 years of time.
Third One is India’s next generation Glucose meters and mass production of glucose strips. Today Sensacore runs 5 assembly lines to produce Glucose strips with total capacity of 15 Lac strips per day or 45 crores strips per year. Glucose meters are strips made by Sensacore have been adapted for Modi Government’s Jan Aaushadi Project and will be available in all the 3300 Jan Aaushadi stores nationwide. Though there are 51 glucometer companies registered with Drug controller of India, Sensacore can proudly say, we are the true manufacturer of the strips as it was conceived and produced in Hyderabad and not licensced or imported from China under their private label. Sensacore will achieve Monopoly cult status (controlling more than 50% of new sale) in glucose strip business in 5 years time.
Dr. Ravi Kumar Meruva
Our innovations in our industry is introduction of non-existent product locally manufactured at affordable prices. It is very important to have local manufacturing to keep the control over the pricing. Each of the products we designed and launched, we have ensured that the performance and robustness of the product is on par with US/European product, but the product needs to be delivered at prices that are within reach of common man or smallest Lab. Affordability of the products was always of paramount importance. Based on initial evaluation, every 1 Crore sales generated by Sensacore reduces the foreign imports worth 3 Crores. Which means, when Sensacore joins the 100 Cr club in 2020, we would have reduced the foreign imports by 300 Crores. That is our impact on Indian Economy.
Define your leadership style and role.
I have been instrumental in developing the core technology (Electrode, reagent formulations, algorithms and strip formulation) in addition to directing a petite R&D team in designing and developing all aspects of Instrumentation (Mechanical, Electronics, Embedded Software, Packaging and aesthetic of the product and branding of the products). I am involving in all aspects of the business (Finance, administration, budget and compliance) and I own 100% stake in Sensacore and have invested 25 Crore in building the firm from Ground zero to its current state, which now employs 250 professional and technical staff. The firm has lot of intellectual property and strongest Balance sheet with zero debt.
I have built a strong team and provided the intellectual freedom to come up with research ideas and provided the free hand to nurture their capability. I have always emphasized on Team Sensacore instead of individual brilliance. If the company wants to go far, it needs multiple heros and it cannot be one man show.
Breakthrough ideas from you.
Making the three non-existent Products which were typically imported either on foreign brand or Private Indian Brand, making the reality of Make in India come true. Though Make in India initiatives has been launched three years ago, Sensacore had adpated the philosophy since its inception of 2006.
Making the Electrolyte Analyzer Universal (there are 10 different Analyzer in-built within our Analyzer) was the biggest breakthrough in making the adaptability of the Electrolyte Analyzer and gave such a huge advantage over the competitors.
Bringing the products in affordable price range without any compromise in the performance and robustness. Just to give a perspective, the glucose strip that retails at 25 rupee/strip cost only 1.5 rupee/strip to manufacture, which means we could price the strips at less than 5 rupee/strip when we expand in retail segment.
Suggestions for a Better India.
There is huge gap and at the same time oppurtunity in manufacturing niche products in India and reduce the dependency of importing the products which in turn preserves the foreign currency reserve. There is always need for local manufacturing to keep a check on the prices and Make in India does make huge socio-economic impact in attaining Self-Reliance.
