Welcome to Meril Life – A Global MedTech Company

With the global rise in internet usage and advances in communication and technology, humankind is learning faster than ever. We at Meril Life Sciences hope to bridge the gap between the rapid advances in technology and its impact on surgeries, by empowering healthcare professionals with the latest in the field of medicine. Through research and development, paired with novel, state-of-the-art clinical medical devices and contributions from various award-winning healthcare professionals, we pride ourselves on creating Meril Academy, which is a cutting edge training centre for healthcare professionals.

The tenets of Meril Academy

Meril Academy began by keeping in mind core tenets which we frequently refer to and keep updating as we touch greater heights on our journey. The Tenets behind Meril Academy are:

• Vision: Transforming patient care through professional education.
• Mission: Develop and enhance the skills of healthcare professionals for better surgical outcomes.
• Goals: Engage 20,000 healthcare professionals globally by 2020.
• Commitment: By partnering with healthcare professionals to advance surgical care, we can ensure that people live longer and healthier lives.

Revolutionary education centre

With our core tenets firmly in place, we deliver the best-in-class, in medical devices and healthcare education. At Meril academy, we encourage peer-to-peer learning by fostering a collegial environment that helps the advancement of knowledge. This allows healthcare professionals an opportunity to discuss the latest advancements in technology, along with getting an opportunity to test and practice on these technologies themselves. Our advanced structure covers a sprawling 200,000 square feet of area, with facilities that are on par with international standards.

An asset to healthcare professionals

Meril Academy is fit with sprawling auditoriums acoustically designed and fitted with the latest audiovisual technologies to allow for live telecasts from anywhere in the world. Other facilities such as the Meril simulation suite, which is a 3,000 square foot, one-of-its-kind simulation environment, that allows medical professionals to learn via trial and error in a controlled, yet realistic setting. Our international faculty, simulation-based learning programs, live cases and distance-based learning, hardware playroom and well-stocked library are just a few of the reasons why Meril academy is a valuable asset to healthcare professionals.

The initiatives undertaken by Meril Life Sciences and Meril Academy are undertaken with the hope of building upon the edifice of knowledge and enterprise that empowers, emboldens, and unlocks new avenues of learning. Meril Academy focuses on the human element of the healthcare industry by providing healthcare professionals with enhanced skills that help create better surgical outcomes for patients. This method slowly but surely brings us closer to our goal of making a significant difference to human lives.

Founded in 2006, Meril Life Sciences has proven itself in the field of innovation, design, healthcare education and medical technology. Over the years we have developed more than 140  products across multiple therapy areas, established ourselves as the leading cardiac implant company in India, grown into a team of more than 4,000 employees and conducted business in more than 100 countries. Today, let us take a look back at the achievements, awards and the journey of Meril Life Sciences through the years.

Our exceptional business performance, broad and innovative range of vascular interventional devices and global presence, has made a mark on a national and global scale. This earned us the National best employer brand award in 2018, and Gujarat best employer brand award in 2019. Our very own Mr. Hemchandra Panjikar, Director & Group HR Head for Bilakhia Group of Companies, was also felicitated as the top 101 HR Minds at the National Best Employer Brand Awards 2019. These awards were held and facilitated by the Employer Branding Institute of India. The criteria taken into assessment for this award were translating and combining vision, action and HR strategy and how competent the organisation was at building a future-ready business plan.

Our revolutionary healthcare solutions were also awarded the Dun & Bradstreet-RBL Bank SME business excellence award in 2018 for the best women empowerment initiatives. Our state-of-the-art, cutting edge medical devices in the field of cardiovascular intervention were recognised and named the Cardiac implants company of the year by Frost & Sullivan. Frost & Sullivan has spent more than 50 years analysing, pioneering and guiding their clients to grow, their recognition is a true feather on our caps.

Frost & Sullivan recognised Meril Life Sciences for demonstrating excellence in growth, innovation and leadership by developing some of the most clinically advanced technologies – Myval– Transcatheter Heart Valve and MeRes100– BioResorbable Vascular Scaffold System. They identified Meril Life Sciences as a homegrown medtech company that addresses critical healthcare needs of patients in India and across the globe. With its strong overall performance, Meril Life Sciences has earned Frost & Sullivan’s 2019 Company of the Year Award in the Cardiac Implants Industry in India.

To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance categories, Frost & Sullivan considers a company’s vision, innovation, performance and customer impact. With Meril’s dedication and commitment to innovation, training and education, scientific communication and the promise of creating and delivering best-in-class medical devices, we are poised to hit this mark every year and reach our goal of providing novel, cutting-edge healthcare solutions to all.

Meril Academy is one of the largest and most advanced training centers in Asia, which has been visited by more than 10,000 healthcare professionals from all across the globe. Built with the cosmic vision of bridging the gap between the rapid advancement in technology and its impact on patients and surgeries, Meril Academy enables healthcare professionals to learn more about these updated technologies. This healthcare education is provided through live cases, live lectures, complex case presentations and other informative lectures delivered by seasoned medical practitioners to help improve surgical outcomes.

Coronary artery diseases are currently the leading cause of death worldwide. This means that the number of patients suffering from aortic stenosis and other cardiovascular diseases is constantly on the rise. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) are fairly new procedures that are recommended to patients suffering from aortic stenosis with high and intermediate-risk levels. These procedures use a minimally invasive surgical approach to repair a damaged heart valve by placing a replacement valve into the faulty artery. To speed up the learning process of the newly introduced technology we organised the Myval Certification program, to reach out to interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons and train them in the use of this technology.

A one-day course was held on 12th January 2019 with 35 delegates participating from all over India and renowned interventional cardiologist Dr. G. Sengottuvelu acting as course director for the 1st TAVR certification program. The objective of the program was to train interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons on the basics of TAVR therapy by creating a blend of didactic situations and hands-on simulations. Dr. Ravinder Singh Rao, Dr. Anmol Sonawane and Dr. Sanjiv Gupta were the faculty for this program. The first TAVR certification program was a successful endeavour signifying the start of the learning process.

It was followed by the 2nd TAVR certification program held on 16th March 2019. This program agglomerated 61 interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons across India, with Dr. Ravinder Singh Rao and Dr. Vijay Kumar presiding as course directors. The programs covered topics such as imaging of TAVR, step-by-step TAVR with Myval and TAVR in high-risk patients. The session further went on to discuss some interesting cases that used the Myval procedure to help treat patients.

Through initiatives such as the Myval TAVR certification program and Meril Academy, we at Meril Life have built products, training programs and facilities which allow us to compete on an international stage. Only through education and preparation for the future can we forge a path that will lead to healthcare that is accessible to everyone.

At Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. it is our objective to identify unmet clinical requirements and produce relevant medical devices to address these requirements with immediate turnaround cycles. Such an objective can only be achieved through dedication and hard work that Merilians put in at every stage to make this goal a reality. With our enthusiastic and diverse R&D team, we aim to make healthcare solutions more accessible for doctors and patients alike. To meet these high standards we began the Future Leaders Program, an initiative by the Meril HR team to ignite the leader in each Merilian and take the company to new heights.

The Future Leader Training Program

We at Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. have always believed that leadership does not lie in the position, but the actions a person takes. We know that every employee has the potential of being the next leader and trendsetter for the company. Thus, the Future Leader Training Program began on 17th June 2019 with the first meeting being held at Takshashila Hall at Meril Academy. 250 Merilians were hand-picked by the management team from the manufacturing and administrative divisions for this initiative. The aim and function of the Future Leader Training Program is to facilitate rotations in and across functions of the Meril Life Sciences teams and allow employees and future leaders to learn about these medical devices in accelerated learning environments.

Rewarding and fun experience

Meril management teams believe that the Future Leader Training Program will be an incredibly rewarding and fun learning experience for employees. Such programs help improve relations among employees, hone people skills and their positive effects lead to employees becoming better and more authentic leaders. Developing these employees and their skills will be exactly what is required to take Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. from good to great.

Challenging and purposeful opportunities

The first session was conducted by Dr. Hemchandra Panjikar, Group Head HR at Meril Life Sciences India Pvt Ltd, who spoke about and gave examples from the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” The 250 Merilians hand-picked for this role, have all been identified as potential emerging leaders within these divisions. Based on this, these future leaders will be taking on challenging and purposeful opportunities that accelerate their readiness to take on leadership roles.

Along with our complete dedication towards the design and development of novel, state-of-the-art and best in class devices, Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. is also deeply committed to conducting trials that allow for the alleviation of human suffering.With our Future Leader Training Program and other endeavours we at Meril Life Sciences hope to truly create a better and brighter future for all of us.

Dun & Bradstreet-RBL Bank SME Business Excellence Awards, 2019 

Dun & Bradstreet the world’s leading knowledge provider has been consistently tracking crucial sectors of the Indian Economy for over the two decades. As a part of this endeavor, it has been hosting the “SME Business Excellence Awards” since 2008 to recognize the achievements of Indian SME’s and Mid-Corporate. The 2019 edition of these Awards, in association with the RBL Bank, was held at New Delhi on November 20th, 2019.

In this context, we are extremely pleased to inform that “Meril Life Sciences Private Limited” was selected and awarded the “Dun & Bradstreet-RBL Bank SME Business Excellence Awards, 2019” for Best Pharmaceuticals Company in Mid-Corporate Segment. 

As Meril is committed to R&D, innovation in manufacturing medical technology, and scientific communication we believe in improving the quality of human life through innovative and advanced healthcare solutions.

India’s medical device sector is undergoing a drastic transformation, with a new regulatory regime aimed at luring industry backers and priming it for significant growth. We aim to improve the quality of human life through innovative and advanced healthcare solutions. As a medical device manufacturer, we exist to improve the inventiveness in healthcare so that people’s lives are enriched. We continually seek excellence in providing answers to some of medicine’s toughest questions.

Our inclination towards research and development is reflected in our diverse offerings. We ensure that we adhere to the best quality of standards in manufacturing, scientific communication and distribution to deliver path-breaking healthcare products to the world.

We collaborate with physicians and global innovators to identify unmet clinical needs and develop revolutionary therapies. We encourage research and academic collaborations and remain available to interact on exciting opportunities. Our products are made in India with a global perspective. Meril Life Sciences has direct sales and representatives offices in India, Germany, Turkey, the US, China and Brazil and its distribution model is spread over more than 100 countries across continents.

Myval– the Revolution in Medical Device Industry:

On 16th November, 2018, we had introduced the first ever indigenously designed and manufactured Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve (TAVR) – Myval. With this launch, Meril becomes the First Indian Company to make Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve Replacement (TAVR) Therapy commercially available on the world stage.

The launch of indigenously developed Myval Transcatheter Heart Valve technology is an assertion of this fundamental belief. For us, it is a proud moment to be the first Indian company to commercially make this therapy available in the country and honored with the title of Best Pharmaceuticals Company.

Here is our full blog post: https://www.merillife.com/blog/in-the-news/heres-to-more-awards-and-more-to-life

Prof. Alain Cribier, MD, has been the Chief of Cardiology at Hospital Charles Nicolle, University of Rouen, France for 20 years. Since 2011, he is Professor Emeritus and Consultant at this University. He has graduated from the University of Paris. After a fellowship at Cedars-Sinaï Medical Center in Los-Angeles, he joined the department of cardiology at Charles Nicolle Hospital in Rouen in 1977 and became Director of the Department. He became widely recognized for having performed the first balloon dilatation of the aortic valve for the treatment of calcific aortic stenosis in 1985. He also conceived and developed after 10 years of research, the technique of transcatheter implantation of aortic valves (TAVI), performing the first ever TAVI case in Rouen in 2002.

This latest innovation has opened a revolutionary less invasive way of treating aortic stenosis in patients at high risk for conventional surgery. Prof. Cribier had received many prestigious scientific distinctions and awards in France, Europe, United States, South America, Israel and Asia for his pioneering work, and in 2012, he obtained the most recognized top French national distinction, the Legion of Honour received from the hands of Prof Alain Cribier, the world famous cardiac surgeon. He has published more than 600 indexed articles in the field of interventional cardiology, PCI, and valvular disease and innovative technologies.

We at Meril, celebrated Myval’s 1^st Year Celebration in the presence of Prof. Cribier’s with Major event 2^nd Global TAVR Summit at Meril Academy on 14^th – 15^th Dec 2019 along with Roadshow at different cities like Kolkata, Kochi, & Hyderabad where 650 Interventional Cardiologists reached across India in a week with Prof Cribier’s road show.

Prof. Alain Cribier was extremely pleased with the Extensive agenda, scientific content and engagements at Meril Academy which included 12hours of highly engaging scientific agenda for TAVR therapy spanning 1.5 days, 30lectures from national and international faculty were delivered along with a live case transmission from Spain. A total of 130+ national and international Interventional cardiologists spent their valuable time to learn and discuss TAVR science and best treatment practices. Prof. Alain Cribier (Pioneer of TAVR therapy) graced the occasion with a key note lecture on the journey of TAVR therapy and increased reach of this non-surgical valve therapy for patients with severe aortic stenosis.

While concluding he also added “In the 17 years since I performed the first TAVR procedure in 2002, more than 350,000 patients in 65 countries have undergone this revolutionary procedure. In the beginning, when the technology was new, TAVR was recommended only to high-risk patients who couldn’t undergo open heart surgery. However, advances in technology and availability of long-term safety data have resulted in TAVR becoming a routine and preferred procedure today. Companies like Meril Life Sciences are helping bring the benefits of non-surgical TAVR therapy to more patients by training Interventional Cardiologists in India. They have also made this cutting-edge treatment more accessible and more affordable to Indian patients.” – Prof. Alain Cribier

It was an honor to host Prof. Alain Cribier and many other top Interventional cardiologists from India and across the globe who came together to exchange their knowledge and ideas under one roof and made the TAVR summit a huge success. Let’s TAVI!!

Here is our full blog post: https://www.merillife.com/blog/in-the-news/father-of-tavi-tavr-therapy-prof-alain-cribier-at-2nd-global-tavr-summit-meril-academy

The Indian medical device sector is the fourth largest medical device sector in Asia, currently valued at 5.2 billion dollars and growing by 16% every year. Such a market provides manufacturers and investors with a wide range of opportunities. This growth is not just due to the size of the market but also because of regulatory makeovers such as the Indian Medical Devices Rules, passed in 2017. Being one of the industry leaders in the Medtech sector, Meril Life Sciences has personally felt the changes in the industry first-hand. Let us take a closer look at the changing face of Indian Medtech and the role of Meril Life Sciences in this change.

The changing face of Indian Medtech

The Indian Medical Devices Rules, 2017 seeks to bring the sector and regulations more in-line with global standards and practices. In an official statement, vice president of Meril Life Sciences, Mr. Sanjeev Bhatt said that before 2005 the Indian Medtech space was not granulated. In the last 10 years, the government of India has made a conscious decision to grow the reach of healthcare and hospitals within towns and rural areas. Estimates say, by the year 2025 Indian care providers will need to supply as many as 1.75 million additional beds. This demographic time bomb has prompted many healthcare providers to step into the Medtech and healthcare sectors to fulfill this growing need.

Regulatory changes

According to new regulations, if a medical device has already been approved by countries in the European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan or the US, a clinical investigation is not required for it to be sold in India. Along with this, the Indian government now actively encourages medical visas that permit staying in the country to receive medical care for up to six months. Mr. Sanjeev Bhatt said that he witnessed the perception of hospitals being only for emergencies change right in front of him. According to his statement, when Meril Life Sciences first began they were conducting about 46,000 knee replacements each year. Today, Meril Life Sciences performs over 200,000 knee replacements annually with more than half a million taking place across the country. The changing of regulations has also raised the quality and infrastructure levels of Indian healthcare facilities to match international standards.

The role of Meril Life Sciences

In these changing times, Meril Life Sciences recently became the first Indian company to receive European certification for its revolutionary stent technology. In 2019, they presented the results of 14 medical studies at the EuroPCR conference in Paris. Along with exhibiting the company’s recently CE approved devices, The MeRes100 bioresorbable scaffold (BRS) and the Myval transcatheter heart valve(TVH). With 20% of the market share of total knee replacement surgery in India, Meril Life Sciences is at the forefront of the changing face of Indian Medtech.

In India and on a global scale the rise in technology is creating rapid advancements in the healthcare sector. Medtech is at the core of these advancements, revolutionising the way patients are treated and diagnosed. As a global Medtech company, Meril Life Sciences believes that through our ultra-modern manufacturing facilities and the latest cutting-edge medical technology, we have the ability to keep pace with the changing times and make bigger strides in the field of medicine and technology.

Here is our full blog post: https://www.merillife.com/blog/medtech/meril-life-sciences-leading-the-path-to-a-growing-indian-medtech-sector

Meril Life Sciences was born with a fundamental dedication to creating healthcare technologies that improve the quality of human life. Our dedicated R&D team strives to be trendsetters in product innovations by identifying unmet clinical needs and pioneering relevant medical devices with quick turnaround cycles. With more than 150 dedicated R&D personnel working in a cross-functional capacity, our products form the next generation of medical devices and therapies. Being a global medical device manufacturer we are proud to be the first Indian company to make Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) technology commercially available on a global scale.

Technological triumph

At Meril Life Sciences we have always been dedicated to designing and developing state-of-the-art technology to alleviate human suffering and improve quality of life. The commercial launch of the Myval TAVR technology is simply an assertion of this fundamental belief. TAVR is a minimally-invasive surgical procedure that repairs the heart valve without removing the old damaged valve. Using TAVR can help reduce hospital stay for patients, help them avoid pacemakers for upto 12 months post surgery, leave minimal scars and most importantly ensure the long term-safety and efficacy of the patient. Meril Life’s process behind creating such a technological triumph was covered by multiple news outlets and sources. A representative from the reputed website Moneycontrol.com got in touch with Mr. Sanjeev Bhatt, vice-president of corporate strategy at Meril Life Sciences to understand the hard work and effort that went into this accomplishment. As the complete article states, the market for TAVR is dominated by US medical device makers Medtronics and Edward Lifesciences, breaking into this market for an Indian company was no easy task.

Developmental challenges

“Over the last six years we have consciously decided to move into structural heart diseases. Structural heart diseases are those where people have diseases not in the vessels, but in the heart itself,” said Mr. Bhatt. One of the initial challenges we faced in this endeavour was that early heart valves were made of metal and plastic. Over a period of time, a stent that had to be permanently placed inside the heart valve began to create further complications in patients. To compete on a global scale, Meril Life Sciences developed a bioprosthetic heart valve from pericardial materials of bovine and porcine materials. This heart valve was designed to gradually dissolve for 12-24 months, thus allowing the heart to heal and function naturally, without any complications. Along with the valve, we devised a balloon delivery system and a range of accessories and paraphernalia to support the TAVR surgery.

Huge untapped market

The article further goes on to state that there are currently less than 200 TAVR procedures done in a year, even though the need for it could be around 300,000 in India alone. While the idea and execution might be spot on, there is still a need to spread awareness about TAVR to make it a common therapy for coronary artery diseases. One of the core founding principles behind Meril Life Sciences is to bring the latest technology and best procedures within the reach of the patient.

To make this goal possible we have a dedicated R&D team comprising of doctors; biomedical, electrical, chemical engineers; material science specialists; IT experts such as 3D animators; clinical and regulatory experts; IP and patent experts; manufacturing engineers; and last but not least, advertising, marketing and logistics experts. All of these aspects come together and work in a cross-functional capacity to deliver excellence in medicinal products and providing answers to some of medicine’s toughest questions.

Here is our full blog post: https://www.merillife.com/blog/in-the-news/top-medical-device-manufacturer-makes-history-as-the-first-indian-company-to-make-heart-valve-technology-commercially-available

Meril Life Sciences is an Indian based global medical device company that is committed to R&D, innovation in manufacturing medical technology, scientific communication and making these innovations accessible to patients. This is accomplished by our state-of-the-art production facilities, a diverse and heterogeneous R&D team and education and learning opportunities for future healthcare professionals. We believe in a culture of innovation, research and developing long-standing relationships with patients, doctors and key stakeholders.

The latest step on our journey to making healthcare accessible and improving the quality of life is our 100-micron bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) becoming the first thin-strut scaffold in India to receive European Conformity (CE) mark. The MeRes100 from Meril Life Sciences, is a non-metallic mesh placed inside a narrowed artery to treat it. It has been uniquely designed to open a blocked artery, restoring blood flow and gradually dissolve over a period of 12-24 months, allowing the artery to heal and function on its own.

Receiving a European Conformity (CE) marking for the MeRes100 makes us the first company in India to achieve such a feat. This news was covered by journalist Aditya Anand from the newspaper, The Hindu. Mr. Anand visited the Meril Life Sciences headquarters in Vapi, Gujarat, to speak to the dedicated team behind MeRes100 and understand the efforts that went into creating this heart stent. Over the course of his visit, Mr. Anand met with Mr. Sanjeev Bhatt, vice-president of corporate strategy at Meril Life Sciences. To help Mr. Anand understand the innovation behind the latest MeRes technology, he explained that the role of a Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) is to provide temporary scaffolding to the blockage or lesion site in the heart and deliver a drug to facilitate better healing. What happens in most cases, is that the metallic stent remains inside the body as a permanent implant. Such a scenario can lead to an increased risk factor in the patient.

With the combined efforts of over 150 scientists, chemists, engineers and researchers Meril was able to bridge the gap between the temporary treatment of opening a heart blockage and the undesirably permanent solution of placing a metallic DES implant. The new MeRes100 bioresorbable vascular scaffold was tested in India as MeRes-1 and further studies were conducted in Brazil, Europe and Asia as MeRes-1 extend. Over a period of three years, it has been proved that the MeRes100 provides long-term safety and sustained efficacy for patients with coronary artery disease.

Dr. Praveen Chandra, chairman of interventional cardiology at Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon, who was also the co-principal investigator of the MeRes-1 study, observed that when it came to first generation bioresorbable scaffolds, the long-term results were not favorable. By contrast, the MeRes100 has reduced strut thickness, improved profile, faster degradation and a lower possibility of scaffold thrombosis. This makes the MeRes100 a giant leap forward in the field of interventional cardiology.

You can read the complete article by Mr. Aditya Anand here. All of the innovations from Meril life Sciences are born from the aim of improving the quality of human life through innovative and advanced healthcare solutions. The MeRes100 creates a minimal risk heart stent procedure with clinically proven long-term safety and efficacy. With the well-being of patients as our primary goal, Meril Life Sciences hopes to distribute and deliver path-breaking healthcare products to the entire world.