The application of Silk in the medical field started in the 19th century when it replaced traditional metal wires as a suture material. Exploring its non-textile use, three years ago, three men – Vivek Mishra, Bharat Tandon and Subramanian Shivaraman – got together to develop a patented wound care technology from Silk proteins and Fibroheal Woundcare was born. Speaking exclusively to The Organic Magazine, Vivek Mishra, Founder & CEO, Fibroheal Woundcare speaks about Fibroheal’s applications and how they plan to explore the global market in 2021.
What was the vision and inspiration behind setting up Fibroheal? How did you come upon the technology?
Silk is one of the oldest fibres known to man, it has a history as the richest fabric itself! There are silk sarees which are more than 100 years old and are used for many generations even today; which highlight its excellent fabric and material property. When it comes to exploring its non-textile use, the application of Silk in the medical field started in the 19th century when it replaced traditional metal wires as a suture material.
Today, Silk is studied extensively for its biomedical use. It is the most diverse, model biomaterial due to its remarkable properties like high mechanical strength, biocompatible, non cytotoxic, thermo-stable, low-immunogenic and biodegradable.
India is the second largest silk producing country in the world. Karnataka alone produces nearly 70% of the country’s total mulberry silk. Sericulture farming provides jobs for about 10.6 Lakh people in Karnataka directly and indirectly. More than 1.2 Lakh families in Karnataka are depending on Sericulture and mulberry cultivation. But a large amount of silk is wasted in the value chain from reeling to weaving which can be utilized to develop products for biomedical use. More than 80 Lac families are dependent directly and indirectly on silk.
We at Fibroheal Woundcare always wanted to bring socio-economic multiplier effect with our innovation and work i.e from Silk growers (farmer’s side), surgeons (user side) and patients. Since our facility is situated very close to the Silk city of Karnataka, having largest market of silk cocoons in Asia, the sourcing of good quality silk / raw materials for our manufacturing is like at our doorstep and easy to access.
We work on the non-textile application of silk, utilising the waste and by-products of silk production to develop innovative, low cost products for patients. At the same time we are creating employment for many, enhancing farmer incomes and improving the economics of silk production in India.
Secondly, due to increasing ageing population worldwide and the high prevalence of lifestyle diseases and chronic diseases among the elderly and high cost of treatment, we wanted to work on newer biomaterial which can be cost effective and affordable for patients and at the same time ease the work of doctors / nursing staff in the hospital. Additionally, we have on-board, two eminent stalwarts to guide us as co-founders, mentors and advisors: Bharat Tandon – Founder of Vetcare (Animal nutrition and health company) which was acquired by Provimi and later by Cargill. Subramanian Shivaraman – Co-founder of the second largest sutures company in India called Sutures India (having many sutures along with silk sutures) now called as Healthium Medtech.
Thirdly, the need gap which exists in the present market scenario, more than 85% of MD are imported in India. Being the second largest producer of Silk in the world, second most populated in the world and depending solely on imports to cater to various wound healing requirements initiated the thoughts.
Silk being the most versatile, perfectly biocompatible material and its abundant availability in Karnataka made it an ideal candidate for our research. Moreover a lot of research happened at various institution levels on silk as its biomaterial applications.
We saw the economic multiplier potential of Silk – farmers, hospitals and patients. All this put together guided us our path to develop a product which can have a huge economic impact, can bring down imports significantly and product performance is much superior to the existing imported and marketed products, while being cost effective.
What were the challenges faced in the initial years? Competition?
Like any other startup, we also have faced many challenges. Firstly the funding – we started our operations in 2017 with internal investment. Later, Fibroheal were successful in raising some small angel investment, govt. grants and started generating some revenues from sales. Secondly, attracting good talent was very difficult for a startup company. We started hiring by good references, going back to colleges, using our connect and old colleagues helped us. Right now we have a robust and dynamic team which is our company’s core strength. To address regulatory clarity, we identified few professionals who have guided and helped us in getting the regulatory clearance, which was one of our prime requirements.
For maintaining liquidity in the company, we have a committed and experienced sales team having excellent hospital and distribution network to operate at ground level. where we started selling our products and generating revenues by getting regular business. We have collaborated with reputed institutions like IISc – Bangalore, IIT- Guwahati for technical support and guidance for research and development and Dept. Heads of few reputed institutions as Medical advisors, mentors and KOL`s to guide us on market needs, products and performance. Our competitors are 3M, Smith & Nephew, Convatec, Colloplast, KCI, J&J, Molnlycke Health Care, Hollister, etc.
Fibroheal have registered under Startup India, Startup Karnataka and this helped us in getting benefits in various Govt. tenders to get exemption for turnover clause for participation. Since we are registered under Startup India, we are able to get our company and products listed on GeM (Govt. e-market place). Additionally Dept. of Biotech, Govt. of India through BIRAC has supported us in a lot of initiatives.
We were also winners of ELEVATE 100, 2019 organised by Startup Karnataka under Dept. of IT, BT & ST, Govt. of Karnataka as one of the most innovative biotech startup and got a R&D grant to support our research. CCAMP under a BIRAC program has supported us through LEAP (Launching Entrepreneurs for Affordable Products) scheme.
What are Fibroheal’s applications?
We offer a wide range of silk protein derived wound dressings and products to treat different wound types and conditions.
- Indigenously developed solution for wound healing (Natural biomaterial, bio-compatible and safe)
- Aids faster healing & wound closure
- Significant reduction in cost of treatment for patients
- Offers Scar reduction while participating in active healing
- Faster turn-around rates and decreased load on hospitals
- Improves quality of life of people post healing
- Affordable and easily accessible.
Describe your product line and production capacity? Any eco certifications?
Fibroheal are one among the few companies across the globe working on this versatile biomaterial called silk proteins. We have indigenously developed patented technological products in our basket. Our research work is well appreciated by the government and supported by grants and awards. We offer affordable and cost-effective solutions for wound management.
We have successfully launched 9 products in the market; our products are used by renowned surgeons and doctors in more than top 50 major reputed hospitals (in Government, Private, Medical College, Defense, Railway and Autonomous etc.) across India, to treat the most complicated wounds and are happy with the results.
We aspire to be one of the most comprehensive wound care Indian company catering to the entire wound care continuum. We offer products for active and advanced wound care management. Our Fibroheal range of products are used to treat all types of wounds such as clean wounds, non-infected wounds, infected wounds, difficult to heal and slow or non-healing wounds etc. Our products come in different forms such as film, sheet, mesh, foam, powder, ointment, gel etc.
We have built a state-of-art facility, which is ISO 13485 compliant and has a CDSCO license for manufacturing. We have installed automated machines to increase the production capacity with a 10x jump in output (approx. 1 lakh units per month).
We are an environmental friendly enterprise, manufacturing completely biodegradable product. The operations are managed in such a way so that there is no (or) minimal impact on the local or global environment. Our enterprise falls under GREEN category where we are not discharging any effluents to the environment or causing pollution.
Your insights on the sustainable healthcare product market in India? Has Covid-19 changed the scenario?
Both globally and in India, the wound care market is growing at a significant pace year after year with increasing population, lifestyle diseases (diabetes), disposable incomes etc. Additionally, the need gap which exists in the present market scenario, more than 85% of medical devices are imported in India, high cost on imports etc. We see a huge potential and sustainable business for products which are indigenously developed, cost-effective and fulfilling the needs of the wound care market.
Post Covid-19, our business, Fibroheal has also been impacted and we hope to bounce back once the situation improves. We have received very good responses from the medical fraternity and they are optimistic and positive to support research driven Indian startups who are making meaningful products and solving genuine problems.
However, even during the pandemic, lock-down phase and when business conditions are challenging, we stood by our people, supported them by paying them full without any pay-cuts or lay-offs. We hope to make a lot of difference and aspire to be the most comprehensive wound management company in the coming years.
Do you export your products?
As of now, we are operating only in the domestic market. However, we are in the process of getting CE approval to enter the export market by 2021.
What are your future plans?
We are on a growth trajectory, our products are well accepted in the Indian market, users are satisfied with the performance of the products, and we have received fantastic response from surgeons as well as patients. Few new concept-based products are in the pipeline which we are aiming to launch by 2021.
Additionally, we are in the process of getting CE approval for our product range. Post CE certification, we are planning to expand our business and explore the international market including developing and developed countries.
