We cannot let health go out of our focus. A community of healthy individuals makes a healthy society. And a healthy society is the prerequisite of a healthy nation.
The nation with a mission to become a ‘Vishwa-Guru’ must make sure that each of its citizens remains healthy and leads a healthful lifestyle. That is the core vision it must never lose focus of.
This vision promulgates the philosophy of supporting human life in a responsible way. A healthy life leads to a happy and prosperous lifestyle. A true visionary observes that the future is nothing but a manifestation of our constant efforts to improve it in the present time.
MJ Group was born from the above-stated philosophy of one such visionary Founder – Mr Jashubhai Shah. He predicted the positive shift in the economic power of developing nations and the need for new age medicines for lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes.
In our search of the Best Biotechnology companies in India, fortunately, we met with Mr Amol Shah, Managing Director of M.J. Biopharm Pvt Ltd., a pharma and biotech arm of the three-decades-old and growing multinational conglomerate.
A Trust Built with Time
Mr Amol Shah is also managing the entire MJ group, which has nurtured the rich heritage and philosophy of its founder, prioritizing people’s well-being above everything else.
He revealed that the group started its biotech operations by collaborating with Eli-Lilly of the USA and became the first in the industry to manufacture recombinant human insulin formulations in India.
He further highlights the company’s continued independent journey in diabetes care. He also points out their significant contribution by setting up a fully dedicated biotech facility to manufacture insulin drug substances through the bacterial fermentation route.
Moving Forward Together
Congruent with the vision of the founder of the company, MJ started with the challenge of registering the company with various institutions in India. The purpose was to provide high-quality domestic insulin at an economical price. Over a period of 3 years, the company has emerged as one of the main suppliers to several institutions around the country.
Mr Shah is very proud of the company’s achievement of becoming a preferred supplier of Insulin to the prestigious ‘Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojna’ (PMBJP) scheme. The scheme ensured the availability of medicines at prices lower than MRP to the common Indian citizens.
MJ continues to provide Insulin at preferred prices to the various institution. It is to fulfil the company’s vision, of making India self-reliant in meeting the requirement of Insulin, for the diabetic population of India.
Overcoming the Turbulent Times
According to Mr Shah, the government of India had taken a bold step of declaring a nationwide lockdown to arrest the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he further opines that the lockdown, whilst essential to ensure the larger safety of the Indian citizen, severely restricted the mobility of individuals.
However, he says “pharmaceutical manufacturing, logistics and associated supply chain were exempted from this lockdown. Biotech and pharma companies have strongly rallied, to ensure smooth delivery of the essential products during the lockdown.” He is satisfied that they have demonstrated the innovative and creative side of the industry, by being the earlier ones to develop the crucial vaccine to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
He strongly believes that the current pandemic has shown the resilience and capabilities of the pharmaceutical industry in India, to weather any storm, and the industry has come out with flying colours.
Unmatched efficiency
Today, MJ Biopharm is one of the largest manufacturers of human Insulin supplies in India and Mr Shah is aware that millions of patients are counting on the company to provide them with this life-saving product. “We had made a promise to our customers and doctors and now it was up to us, to ensure that we do not break this promise.” Mr Shah says compassionately.
Telling about their strict measures taken during the pandemic, Mr Shah states that they took necessary precautions to ensure a safe and hygienic work environment, including making special transport arrangements to ensure safe distancing in transit for all our employees reporting to work.
They also arranged for vaccination of all employees of the company to ensure their safety, whilst they were daily exposing themselves to the dangers of COVID-19.
Further, along with the regular sanitisation program, adequate stocks were kept of hand sanitisers, face masks and gloves, as well as proper food arrangement at the factory premise, etc. to ensure the well-being of MJ group’s employees.
Embracing Tech-novation
As per Mr Shah, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning are taking the healthcare industry by storm. He knows that some healthcare and technology innovators are collaborating and trying to change the current reality by experimenting with these concepts.
He is also happy that these concepts are turning into reality and pointing the way for the future growth of the industry. He believes that they are the practical tools that can help companies improve the standard of care, identify the risks earlier in many cases and improve the overall quality of life.
“The best metaphor I found describing AI in healthcare in one of the articles, that said, that the question is not “if” but “when” AI will revolutionize the healthcare,” he remarks.
He provides real-life examples, like companies such as Moderna and BioNTech that have revolutionised vaccine development by developing mRNA technology. And he hopes that based on this extraordinary impact, improvements to the healthcare system can have for so many people and its potential to save lives and money.
He further mentions that healthcare has become a key industry for investment and efforts for AI and machine learning. He informs that several start-ups and smaller organisations have begun their efforts to create tools to aid healthcare.
Building a Better Future
The last year has been challenging to the Indian economy due to the ongoing pandemic and the MJ group was also affected in some ways. However, it has made all the efforts to ensure that it retains its strong position in the market in the years to come. And to counter such future challenges, the company has developed end-to-end capabilities ranging from biopharmaceutical process development to drug substance and drug product manufacturing on a large scale and continues to invest in this avenue.
The company’s expansion project in Pune is targeted for completion in 2022, resulting in additional capacities with a focus to enter regulated markets and bring economies of scale. The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will have a capacity of 25 million vials and will be EUGMP compliant.
The company has also made significant investments in R&D and regulatory practices, to create a robust product pipeline.
MJ Group has a healthy pool of PhD’s now heading its many departments. With new products under development, it is also working on the model of Tech Transfer License to be the early ones for offering new products. It is further partnering with companies developing software solutions to enhance the life of diabetic patients.
Finally, on the marketing front, Mr Shah says that their focus area is “to continue collaboration with strong marketing partners across territories for our entire product range and invest in novel delivery systems, to be in line with the changes happening around the globe.”
