Dr. Anish Desai is the Founder and CEO of IntelliMed Healthcare Solutions based in Mumbai. IntelliMed enables meaningful engagement with external stakeholders - Physicians, Patients, Providers &Policy Makers/Payers - the 4 Ps. IntelliMed helps to achieve market access by leveraging the healthcare drivers -Awareness, Adoption, Affordability & Access - the 4 As. It can support the entire lifecycle 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.

IntelliMed has been a scientific partner for digital healthcare. It collaborates with you to build market access for Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices;Nutraceuticals. It specializes in Contract/Outsourced Medical Affairs Services.

Journey of Intellimed 

Dr. Anish Desai says, “I am a physician by profession and started my career as Assistant Professor at KEM Hospital. Since then, I have been working in the medical industry pharmaceutical and nutraceutical for nearly three decades. One of the main things I do is look at new products available in the country in studies that are required like the regulatory, education, and awareness part of it to different stakeholders. I have realized that most of the companies available are only marketing companies. To support all these healthcare companies, there are many doctors who can work with them and understand what is needed by the patient, and physicians, and how to deliver that.” 

“There are 4 stakeholders- 

• Patients 
• Physicians 
• Providers like hospitals and labs/diagnostics 
• Policymakers and payers

There are healthcare drivers for awareness, adoption, accessibility, and affordability. And to do that you require hardcore scientific data. This is divided into 3D-

• Scientific data
• Economic data 
• Clinical data

The data needs to be authentic which these stakeholders can rely on. You need to understand that the products available in the market are very differentiated. This needs to be done with diligence. 

Dr. Anish Desai further says, “What I have realized is that many of the marketing teams do not have teams that are made of healthcare professionals. There is a whole need within the entire ecosystem that these companies require healthcare professionals or qualified people who could support them in these activities. Finally, we are answerable to patients and that's where we are looking at the healthcare system. A physician always wants to achieve a superior patient outcome and the patient also wants to do the same. The providers in pharma companies also want to achieve better patient outcomes. And that's where we form a group that is highly qualified and professional people. This qualifying team can help support better healthcare reach.”

Intellimed for the healthcare providers

Dr. Anish Desai states, “There are different markets out there. And one of the market's dollars is growing at the stage of 12-15%. It is estimated to be around 3.5 billion at the end of Strat Plan 2027-28.”

Research for growth estimation of healthcare market 

Dr. Anish Desai states, “The entire healthcare market, whether the number of patients coming into hospitals from the Indian perspective, is growing very fast. The medical device and pharmaceutical market is growing at a very large base. A new market has come in the Nutraceutical Market which is basically the foundation of nutrition and pharmaceuticals. The new digital health market is also very important because today everything is online. All these things require support, education, scientific data, records, and information.”

Authentic data for healthcare providers is a must 

Dr. Anish Desai further informs, “Several healthcare products are available online but there is no authentic data available for those products. Here it is important for the consumer to know that the data is well-researched and scientific. This comes from a group of medically qualified people. This is why we are trying to create awareness to support people and make them aware of new therapies which are available. It is important to know about new products and the data or science behind them. 

The physicians are looking for education on new technologies which are coming in. One of the classic examples is Robotics. Again, pricing is an important part of the different stakeholders. This is where our expertise comes in for giving those data to build awareness for authentic and validated information that is available to the entire ecosystem.”

USP of Intellimed 

Dr. Anish Desai informs, “The USP of Intellimed- 

Highly qualified young professionals 

• Doctors 
• Ph.D. researchers 
• Master in pharmaceuticals and pharma industry
• Doctor of pharmacies 

We work as a team who are highly qualified and professional. 

Clients 

We work with international and Indian clients both. We work with all grades of companies. We work with certain companies in the start-up space also. 

We support a large group of companies, manufacturers and marketing companies present in the entire ecosystem. 

• We work with the top 10 pharmaceutical companies. 
• We work with the top 5 pharmaceutical and medical device companies.”

Expansion of the healthcare market- An expert’s view 

Dr. Anish Desai states, “The market will definitely expand. It's not only the expansion but also complexities that are coming in because of the following- 

• The new regulations 
• The patient is highly educated and looking for more and more authentic validated data 
• Presence of a plethora of information available and nobody is aware of the sources and authenticity of the ecosystem. 

It is important to achieve the right kind of information with the right kind of results we desire. When the consumer or patient is looking for treatment, he is trying to look for alleviation of his disorder with the best available treatment at this point in time for the best technology. If healthcare companies or providers are able to get the right information in the correct manner, this is going to help everybody. 

This is the role we play in being scientific partners with pharmaceutical, medical devices, and nutraceuticals to help them too for business growth and achieve superior patient outcomes. So, that the patient is satisfied at the end of the day and we achieve a healthy society. “

Future of Medical Affairs Strategy for Indian Start-ups 

Dr. Anish Desai informs, “Medical affairs is the bridge between internal stakeholders in the company and external stakeholders. The external stakeholders are as follows- 

• Physician 
• Patients 
• Policymaker and payers 
• Hospital provider

A multi-channel delivery of all these support systems is very important in terms of education. Several medical devices companies are looking at telementoring people.  There is a lot of telemedicine that has come across as well. A delivery platform for education and patient support programs is a must for patients with chronic diseases who require a lot of support and handholding in the case of diabetes or oncology. 

It is important to have a multichannel approach in terms of diagnostics and management. There are connection devices for glucometers or heart rates. All things need to be connected with each other and data need to be available to healthcare providers. This can help in meaningful output for the patient. 

In fact, today we see groups and startups which are managing virtual ICUs. There are many things that are going to have overtime such as remote monitoring of the patient. The opportunities are huge and it's important to get organized to provide the best in the class to the patients. This is going to define how we are going to succeed in the future.”

Experience and learnings 

Dr. Anish Desai says, “It's a good initiative to integrate a lot of players in the entire area and know what is happening. It is important to know what we bring to the table is a 360 degrees understanding. As I said, I am a physician by profession and we have a qualified professional with experience in across all the industries like pharmaceutical areas, devices and nutraceuticals. 

Dr. Anish Desai further says, “One of the challenges with the health start-up tech space is that many of the founders come from fintech backgrounds. Most of them do not have a healthcare background and that's where we come into picture in terms of helping them understand the entire healthcare ecosystem, patient journey, the entire environment. We have been there for 30+ years and been there in the evolution system and that's where we play a major role and your channel is bringing that integration so that people know about the resources who can help them at the time of growth.”