Celebrating Women’s Entrepreneurship

Nanomerics is a speciality pharmaceutical company that aims to provide new patient-centred medicines that are more efficacious and have fewer side effects than existing products.  Nanomerics leverages its proprietary pharmaceutical nanotechnologies to design and fabricate medicines that principally tackle unmet clinical needs that affect millions of patients worldwide.  The founders of Nanomerics were motivated by the need to provide medicines that are well tolerated by various patients, as the negative impact of medicine side effects is often overlooked.  The new medicines being developed by Nanomerics are designed to  control drug transport around the body and this control is based on the judicious exploitation of Nanomerics’ Molecular Envelope Technology (MET) for example. 

What inspired you to start your own business?

My co-founder, Andreas G. Schätzlein, and I really started the business to actually bring the science alive and see if it could make a difference.  We were really motivated by the desire to make an impact.  It has been a thrilling ride but one of the best experiences we have ever had. Every single day there is a new problem to solve. Every single day there is something new to learn about either ourselves or our science. Every single day we feel we are inching closer to our goal of making a difference to patients.  

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

The biggest challenge we faced is an age old one. One that is faced by start-ups around the world: a lack of access to capital. This was really crippling in the first few years. We now are reasonably well capitalised and this has taken a lot of effort. All my hair has turned white due to the very real struggle that those early years brought. I am only 25 but I look much older...It’s shocking.

What help and support have you had from UCL?

UCL out-licensed key patents to our company and it was helpful that this license was negotiated in a considerate manner. We are also pleased that we have paid money to UCL as part of our licence agreement, so it really is a win-win situation for us all. 

What advice do you have for any future entrepreneurs?

If you have a burning idea that you just want to showcase to the world in the form of a product or a service and you feel that you can make some sort of difference then just simply decide to do it.  Talk to people who have started companies and try and learn from their mistakes and then go forth safe in the knowledge that if you don’t do it no one else is going to advance your ideas for you. You don’t want your ideas stuck in a publication or worse still in a laboratory notebook.  As with love, it is better to have innovated and lost than to have never innovated at all. It will be the best journey you will ever go on.

senCeuTics Ltd (www.senceutics.com/) is the only specialist pharmaceutical sensory evaluation company worldwide offering a full spectrum of integrated preclinical, clinical and formulation services. We provide expert consultancy and access to state-of-the-art models to evaluate the taste and organoleptic properties of drugs to inform patient-centric medicines design. 

What inspired you to start your own business?

Have you ever tried to give a medicine that tastes bad to a child, let alone to a seriously ill baby? Or even to your picky pet? For too long medicines have been designed for adults by adults and did not take into account the fact that almost all drugs taste bitter and aversive, to the point that a lot of patients are not willing or simply can’t take them. 

senCeuTics is dedicated to making any products for health benefits (supplements, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals) palatable and acceptable for ALL.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

Incorporating just before the pandemic was not ideal timing but was also a powerful distractor and energising endeavour. Maybe the forced slower trading start helped us to find our bearings too and we made it!

What help and support have you had from UCL?

UCL supports and facilitates entrepreneurship. In my department, there are many successful academic business stories and that has certainly been a source of inspiration for me.

As my academic research is very translational, I have offered consultancy and research services via UCLC for years. But it was time to break free. I obtained a small pot of money via the UCL Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund to prepare a robust business model with the support of external business consultants. Thereafter a license was agreed with UCLB and the rest is now history!

What advice do you have for any future entrepreneurs?

My one advice would be: know when to ask for help and have a strong support system in place.

Gustoceutics; taste assessment services for formulation development of palatable medicines.

What inspired you to start your own business?

From the work conducted during my PhD, I identified a gap in the market and due to regulations, I recognised this as both a niche and essential area to be in in the future.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

I struggled with the naming, brand identity and marketing of the company. But with the help of my co-founder and a specialised company, we were able to produce a brand we are proud of.

What help and support have you had from UCL?

We operate our work via UCLC which helps enormously from the legal and insurance perspective. The department has also been tremendously supportive of the work we do allowing us to operate from here.

What advice do you have for any future entrepreneurs?

Don’t take no for an answer, believe in your passions and take things one day at a time.

Name of your business and brief description

Paediatric Medicines and Healthcare Initiative (https://www.pmhiindia.com). PMHI is a non-profit organisation formed to help identify the issues in developing paediatric formulations and navigate the way forward. It is a platform for collaboration, exchange of experience, setting priorities and increasing visibility to address unmet needs of paediatric formulation research in India.

What inspired you to start your own business?

Passion to learn and give back to society to make a difference, especially children. I love children and can’t see them in pain. Paediatric medicines remain a neglected area globally and more specifically in low- and medium-income countries (LMICs) like India. Children in India still remain on the frontline of treatable diseases. It is high time, we provide age-appropriate preparations for children rather than breaking the adult tablets to half or reducing the adult dosage as per child’s age and weight. There is a lack of acceptable and suitable dosage forms for children mainly due to insufficient research, infrastructure and evidence in India. I want to engage with researchers globally, exchange knowledge and promote locally led research in low to middle income countries for expediting the development of much needed paediatric formulations. It started with India but the destination is all other LMICs. I want to completely erase the notion of ‘children are small adults’

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

Staying motivated and inspired!!!! So far it has been one of the most challenging things I had to face in my entrepreneurial journey. Juggling everything with a full time job and family, no one to report to and so less accountability, with all these, it can be very easy to forget the inspiring moments that drove you towards entrepreneurship.  What has helped me is to revisit/remind myself why I decided to do it and that if I don’t do it, it won’t happen. As I usually deliver better when I have lots of pressure and if people are involved, so I try to arrange activities with people, which means I have to deliver to avoid their disappointment and this works in my favour.

What help and support have you had from UCL

Courses and workshops in entrepreneurial skill development offered by UCL have been very helpful. I have completed UCL Enterprise Fellowship Advanced Programme which has equipped me with the skills and knowledge to reach out to organisations outside of academia, build relationships, communicate my research, and demonstrate why it is so vitally important. These skills were an integral part of my entrepreneurship as it aims to bring together internationally reputed researchers, academic experts, scientists and consultants engaged in paediatric formulation development to address unmet needs of paediatric formulation research in India.

What advice do you have for any future entrepreneurs?

From my experience, the people who make it to as entrepreneurs are those who have a strong conviction in their idea. Sure, you need to verify that you have a business model but once you do its truly believing and working towards your success. Don’t let risks or difficulties block your way. No matter how bad the odds, do not give up, and finally celebrate every small win along the way.