Anish Bafna, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, The Healthium Group
Anish Bafna took over as the CEO & Managing Director of the Healthium Group in August, 2018, when he returned to India with the dream of creating India’s most trusted Medtech company.
Podcast
Overview
The Brand Called You is back with another inspiring episode with guest Aneesh Bafna. Anish is the CEO and Managing Director of The Healthium Group. Earlier he was the President of Baxter International Japan.
Anish is in conversation with host Ashutosh Garg about his professional journey and the many experiences he has gained on his way. He lists the milestones that he has achieved over the past years and also talks about the work he does now. As Managing Director of a healthcare company, Anish talks about the availability of med-tech products in the country. And why we as a country are yet to provide enough surgical supplies.
Anish and Ashutosh also discuss how technology has greatly affected the medical industry. And how it has completely changed the procedure of surgery all over the world.
Anish talks about egoless leadership. And highlights the importance of integrity and compliance in business.
He believes in working hard towards achieving one’s dreams!
“Don’t rationalize, try to be rational!”
Profile
Anish Bafna took over as the CEO & Managing Director of the Healthium Group in August 2018, when he returned to India with the dream of creating India’s most trusted Medtech company and Healthium was formed under his aegis as an amalgamation of three companies: – The Erstwhile Sutures India, Quality Needles, the largest independent manufacturer of surgical suture needles in the world and Clinisupplies, the second largest brand of urology products in the United Kingdom.
Under Anish’s leadership, Healthium has undergone a transformational journey on quality, compliance, and R & D. With a vision to create ”access to precision Medtech for every patient globally”, today the Company’s well-diversified product range including minimally invasive Arthroscopy implants, skin staplers, suture needles, gloves, hernia meshes, and hemostats are accessed across 80 countries and in all 500 districts in India with medical facilities including 18000 hospitals in India. In fact, 1 in 6 surgeries globally, use a Healthium product.
Anish and the Healthium team, have pursued the “Atmanirbhar Bharat “agenda by promoting indigenous technology and Innovation that is not just “Make in India” but “make for the world”. In a medical device market that is dominated by small fragmented players and is highly import dependant with over 80% of devices imported, Healthium has 55 patents in India and U.S in just 2 years, including those applying for. The manufacturing facilities have also continued the thrust on high quality with 510K (USFDA), CE, and ISO approvals, thereby offering a high-quality alternative to MNC brands that have dominated the Indian market.
During the Lockdown, under his guidance, the facilities have continued production to ensure a constant supply of essential medical devices for emergency surgeries. Trushield, India’s 1st anti-microbial gloves that kill microbes on contact, protecting both the surgeon and the patient, was manufactured and launched during this period. Completely “Make in India” Sironix range of Arthroscopy products for shoulder and knee were created and launched to fill a market need gaps using patented functional designs including using materials like bio-composites for the 1st time in India.
He also spearheaded the launch of a series of Innovations with 5 new products launched in the last year alone despite the pandemic, with the COMOC MG suture needle combination used in the surgical technique of the same name to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, one of the causes for maternal mortality, Surestitch, the 1st make in India meniscus repair device, Trubarb India’s 1st barbed sutures with a triangular stopper for improved surgical experience, Trushield Antimicrobial gloves, to name a few.
On the people front, under his leadership, Healthium Group has over 2500 employees with a 60% women-led workforce. To support access in tier 3, 4, 5 towns, the company has amongst the largest sales force in the industry.
Anish‘s career spans 27 years with a strong focus on the Healthcare and devices sector, with stints in multiple countries. In his last assignment, he was President of Japan, for Baxter International.
In his earlier stints, he served as the Regional Head- Emerging Asia at Baxter in Singapore, overseeing the operations of India and South East Asia from 2015 to 2017.
Anish has over 27 years of operational and general management experience in the healthcare industry. He along with his family have lived in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Singapore, and Japan before relocating to India. He has a proven track record of building sustainable and profitable businesses, with a strong focus on continuous business improvement. Anish plays tennis, is an avid reader, and likes to delve into history.
Anish’s deep devotion to the country stems from his childhood.
“My maternal grandfather was a freedom fighter. He gave up on all material benefits and fought for the country’s freedom. We were taught from when we were very young that the country comes 1st. While career-wise I did stints abroad, the connection to my roots always ran deep. I have always chosen assignments in my career where there is a large upside to things, where you could turn around things from adversities into opportunity. Despite a comfortable lifestyle abroad whenever such opportunities beckoned back home where I could impact positive change, I have taken them.”
