NephroPlus, a chain of quality dialysis centres, is working to raise Rs.23 crore as part of its expansion plans to achieve the next phase of growth.
The Hyderabad-based dialysis provider which commissioned its first stand alone facility in the city at Banjara Hills, went on to open its second centre at Marredpally. On July 14, it will launch its third centre in Mahabubnagar district at the 650-bed SVS Hospital.
“Going by the increasing number of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) cases where dialysis is the only option, we chalked out a pan India entry strategy for 100 dialysis centres beginning across south India and covering northern states over the next 3 to 4 years. We are in various stages of talks with four venture capitalists to raise Rs.18 crore ($4 million) in the next two months and another Rs.4.5 crore ($1 million ) via debt,” Vikram Vuppala, founder & managing director NephroPlus told Pharmabiz.
The dialysis provider had raised around Rs.2.25 crore from Angel Investors and Founding team to open its three centres.
India accounts for 20 lakh ESRD patients with one lakh new cases annually driven by diabetes and hypertension which is creating a need for easy access to quality dialysis centres.
In order to differentiate the offer, NephroPlus has two proprietary innovations to prevent Hepatitis C and HIV cross infections. It is estimated that 37 per cent of dialysis patients get cross infection. This is where its zero infection point of care kit has helped ensure that patients are free of the dreaded condition during dialysis. The second is a novel process developed by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), US to be adopted by nephrology care providers globally which was integrated by NephroPlus where it devised 62 steps to eliminate total cross infection. Another factor which makes it a patient-centric organization is that its co-founder Kamal Shah, is a dialysis patient for over 14 years, he stated.
ESRD cannot be treated with drugs. Dialysis is the only option. There are some improvements in the dialysis process itself that are constantly being tried and adopted.
NephroPlus quality care has attracted clinical research organizations to opt for the dialysis chain to carry out human studies. Now NephroPlus is working out procedures of Ethics Committee formation among others to be a part of the clinical trials.