Avadim looks to meet gaps in consumer health needs
Ralph Lombardo, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Avadim Health, said retailers need to closely examine where new technologies can help them become more efficient merchants. Lombardo sat down and discussed the state of the industry with Drug Store News.
Drug Store News: What is the state of sales in the mass retail industry?
Ralph Lombardo: From our perspective, there has not been a better time to launch new technologies in chain drug and mass retail outlets. Retailers are tired of redundancy and are carving out opportunities for innovation. Having five brands with the same active ingredient leads to shared revenue, and reduces the opportunity for accretive or incremental facings. We believe this is a great time to differentiate and bring retail partners the opportunity to appeal to a broader patient base through targeted and unique therapeutic options.
DSN: What is driving the market right now in terms of trends?
RL: We are in a consumer-driven healthcare environment. The majority of Americans self-treat before seeking medical attention. Access to information and data is more readily available now than at any other time in our nation’s history, and this has led to a more educated consumer which seeks to make informed decisions when self-medicating. Retailers and brands have to appeal and communicate to the educated consumer. As primary care shifts toward retail, we have to consider the role of the retail pharmacist and health care providers in retail clinics as pivotal to the consumer’s buying decision.
DSN: How does your company fit in?
RL: Avadim Health brings an evidence-based approach to the market place. Our product development strategy is to employ our proprietary process to identify and research gaps in this consumer-driven healthcare market place, develop targeted treatments and build a high-quality clinical compendium through research. Our academic university partnerships yield high-quality evidence, and our goal is to bring clinically proven solutions for patients who otherwise would have no or limited options. We have a strong pipeline of innovations that will prove to be accretive to their respective categories. We launched the first topical clinically proven muscle relaxant, Theraworx Relief, in July 2017, and it is now the fastest-growing brand in external pain. On the horizon, we will be launching a solution for post-menopausal urinary tract infections — our nation’s most common infection — a diabetic neuropathy solution, and are on target for launching the first dual-modality innovation for patients with osteoarthritis in April 2019. Our No. 1 priority is to fill gaps in care and prove to be an incremental partner with our retailers.
DSN: What do retailers need to do to most benefit from these trends?
RL: To optimize shelf, retailers should take a 401(k) portfolio-style approach to their category — what is the return on every inch captured by the brand holding on to that precious real estate? Retailers should also consider what manufacturer investments are being made to increase the value of that real estate to make it as profitable in the portfolio as possible. What is the ROI per inch of shelf space?
DSN: What does the future hold for Avadim and the marketplace?
RL: We see a bright future. Avadim exhaustively researches therapeutic interventional gaps in the marketplace, formulates solutions for those gaps, and conducts high-quality evidence-based studies to demonstrate needed efficacy to fill those gaps. We believe this is a winning approach. We are only interested in bringing accretive value to our stakeholders, and our goal is to work tirelessly to be the best retail partner the industry has. If it’s an Avadim brand, the retailer will know it’s accretive, it’s proven, it works and it will be supported on shelf.”
Drug Store News: What is the state of sales in the mass retail industry?
Ralph Lombardo: From our perspective, there has not been a better time to launch new technologies in chain drug and mass retail outlets. Retailers are tired of redundancy and are carving out opportunities for innovation. Having five brands with the same active ingredient leads to shared revenue, and reduces the opportunity for accretive or incremental facings. We believe this is a great time to differentiate and bring retail partners the opportunity to appeal to a broader patient base through targeted and unique therapeutic options.
DSN: What is driving the market right now in terms of trends?
RL: We are in a consumer-driven healthcare environment. The majority of Americans self-treat before seeking medical attention. Access to information and data is more readily available now than at any other time in our nation’s history, and this has led to a more educated consumer which seeks to make informed decisions when self-medicating. Retailers and brands have to appeal and communicate to the educated consumer. As primary care shifts toward retail, we have to consider the role of the retail pharmacist and health care providers in retail clinics as pivotal to the consumer’s buying decision.
DSN: How does your company fit in?
RL: Avadim Health brings an evidence-based approach to the market place. Our product development strategy is to employ our proprietary process to identify and research gaps in this consumer-driven healthcare market place, develop targeted treatments and build a high-quality clinical compendium through research. Our academic university partnerships yield high-quality evidence, and our goal is to bring clinically proven solutions for patients who otherwise would have no or limited options. We have a strong pipeline of innovations that will prove to be accretive to their respective categories. We launched the first topical clinically proven muscle relaxant, Theraworx Relief, in July 2017, and it is now the fastest-growing brand in external pain. On the horizon, we will be launching a solution for post-menopausal urinary tract infections — our nation’s most common infection — a diabetic neuropathy solution, and are on target for launching the first dual-modality innovation for patients with osteoarthritis in April 2019. Our No. 1 priority is to fill gaps in care and prove to be an incremental partner with our retailers.
DSN: What do retailers need to do to most benefit from these trends?
RL: To optimize shelf, retailers should take a 401(k) portfolio-style approach to their category — what is the return on every inch captured by the brand holding on to that precious real estate? Retailers should also consider what manufacturer investments are being made to increase the value of that real estate to make it as profitable in the portfolio as possible. What is the ROI per inch of shelf space?
DSN: What does the future hold for Avadim and the marketplace?
RL: We see a bright future. Avadim exhaustively researches therapeutic interventional gaps in the marketplace, formulates solutions for those gaps, and conducts high-quality evidence-based studies to demonstrate needed efficacy to fill those gaps. We believe this is a winning approach. We are only interested in bringing accretive value to our stakeholders, and our goal is to work tirelessly to be the best retail partner the industry has. If it’s an Avadim brand, the retailer will know it’s accretive, it’s proven, it works and it will be supported on shelf.”