SCIVOC™ HEALTHCARE CONSULTING PRIVATE LIMITED THE EXPERTS IN MEDICAL COMMUNICATIONS TO WATCH OUT IN 2020
Medical Writing is the science (art) of creating useful scientific and healthcare-related information for various stakeholders and key opinion leaders.1 Working in close collaboration with physicians, medical experts, and healthcare practitioners, medical writers describe the science of drugs, molecules, products, and their specifications in a scientific yet comprehensive manner
MEDICAL WRITING IN INDIA
The demand for medical writing in India has shown significant growth due to the increasing cost pressures on the pharmaceutical industry, which makes it the fourth most commonly outsourced clinical development activity.1 The two steady medical writing streams in India include ’regulatory writing‘ and ‘safety writing.’ Medical communication (MedComms) services (including scientific publication writing), offered by specialized companies are still on a lower trajectory in India.1 The global market for medical writing was estimated to be around $1.3 billion in 2013.2 Established evidence does not exist on the annual volume of the medical writing business from India. However, compared to the global medical writing business, this figure could range between $50 to $70 million, and there is tremendous scope for the growth of this business in India.1
SCIVOC™ HEALTHCARE CONSULTING
SciVoc™ (Voice of Science) is a healthcare consulting company with a specialization in delivering customized, value-based “end-to-end” MedComms solutions. The team comprises doctors and life science professionals with over 40 years of combined experience and expertise in medical content and communication strategies. With a core focus on the quality of service and customer experience, their mission is to create value, trust, and growth for customers’ scientific or medical communication strategies through innovative solutions.
The services of SciVoc Healthcare is classified into four broad categories as below:
- Medical Writing and Medical Content Development
- Graphics Designing (including animation)
- Copy Editing and Proofreading
- Marketing Strategies
INCEPTION STORY
Before incorporating the company, Najeeb had worked in the MedComm space for over 14 years both in India and abroad. He says, “The idea for the company was ingrained in my mind considering the lacunae that exist for MedComms as a service (especially in the Indian setting).” The term MedComms is often misunderstood, and most of the services companies seem not to have in-depth knowledge of this domain. Najeeb adds, “We realized the need to introduce a ‘value-based solution’ to fill the lacuna for existing MedComms services. Hence, I decided to lay the foundation for SciVoc Healthcare Consulting.”
Furthermore, the ecosystem for freelance medical writers is not very sturdy in the Indian medical writing market. There is often an incorrect perception in the medical writing space that medical writers of the Indian origin (excluding some exceptions) do not offer a robust writing skillset. Hence, SciVoc envisioned creating an ecosystem where people are passionate about medical writing and welltrained to communicate science effectively
PROCESS ORIENTED
SciVoc is a ‘process-oriented’ organization that works in a systematized manner. Yet, they are agile and flexible in their operations to adapt to the changing requirements of the clients and market, as applicable, while keeping their core expertise and value intact in the MedComms space.
THE WORKFORCE
“People make the company, and they are an indispensable part of any organization. It is the responsibility of the organization to provide learning and development platform for the associates to prosper,” exclaims Najeeb. SciVoc is driven by high ethics to focus on respect for individuals and understanding each other by way of transparent communication. SciVoc places a great emphasis on ‘transparency, empathy, giving the benefit of doubt, accountability, reliability, encouraging feedback, and acknowledging differences’ amongst the peers. Work-life integration is the central theme, and there is a ‘zero-tolerance’ for negativity in the working group, which could disrupt the positive work ambience. The CEO states, “Learning is encouraged, and we celebrate mistakes but ensure we don’t repeat them.” The effort is to ‘find a solution’ to challenges rather than complaining about it.
MILESTONES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
SciVoc has been fortunate to collaborate on a variety of opportunities with customers in 2019. They have grown through their learnings of varying business platforms, customer understanding, and specificities, and developing and learning from their mistakes. They have had the chance to work outside their comfort zone and areas of expertise to gain a thorough knowledge of the requirements and nature of work
The milestone achieved in a short time till date include the following:
- SciVoc being named ‘Consultant of the Year’ 2019 amongst healthcare startups has been a significant achievement for the company.
- A collaborative agreement with a UK-based company to expand our scope of work and expertise in the digital space.
- Customer feedback addressing SciVoc as their “Preferred partner” based on the value we offered through our expertise.
FUTURE PROSPECTS
SciVoc wishes to be identified for its quality service and customer experience. They are looking at being a ‘lean organization,’ and are looking to onboard people who can identify with the culture, values, and passion of the company. SciVoc expects to get into the ‘Digital’ MedComms space and establish a Medical Learning Academy in 2020. 1. Suhasini Sharma. Development of medical writing in India: Past, present, and future. Perspect Clin Res. 2017 2. Beroe Inc., Outsourcing Medical Writing to India and other low-cost regions, White Paper. 2014
