|
Author Canaguier, Aubin |
Abstract There is a strong need for a better cold sore treatment as existing solutions are not satisfying the market. As much as 3.7 billion people in the world have been infected with the HSV-1 virus that in many people causes cold sores (herpes). We will sell herpes treatment in form of two products. One corresponds to a heatstick that would sell in a set with a cream. The heatstick works with thermotherapy and kills the virus through heat, which induces a cellular immune response. Additionally, we will also sell solely the cream. We have an experienced advisor on board that formulated the Herpes cream. He is currently a R&D manager at Sanofi, is also doing biotech consultancy and has years of experience in the industry. One competitor has already performed clinical trials with their heatstick and the results look very promising (the average duration of illness was 2.3 days for the heatstick vs 4.5 days for acyclovir - currently the standard of care and most used treatment). However, this competitor has not been able to patent this approach because of previous literature. The value proposition is that we offer a better solution for people suffering from regular HSV-1 outbreaks. Moreover, our cream contains natural antiviral products and is likely to have less side effects than standard of care creams. Besides its protective properties, the added antiviral effects of the cream would need to be proven in a small clinical trial which would support the creation of our own IP. The market potential looks promising with an estimation of between 95 million and 126 million € per year for our targeted markets (Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy). Even though we will outsource the production of the cream and the heatstick, we have calculated the variable prices: 1,32€ for each unit of cream and 7,51€ for each heatstick. In our financial calculations we have assumed that our suppliers will charge around 25% of margin. Even with that 25% margin we will still have variable costs inferior of 40% of our gross sales. The price charged for a bundle (heatstick + cream) will be 45€ and the price for the single cream will be 15€. Our business model ideally, will work analog to the printer and cartridge model. We will earn most of our money through the natural cream. We will sell initially, through Amazon and our online shop. The attractiveness of this business opportunity is how scalable the business model is and how quickly this business could become profitable (by the second year). Our marketing activities will focus fully on digital marketing (SEO, SEA, Amazon keywords, influencers, blogs). In a later stage we will consider selling to retailers such as pharmacies or bio/natural shops and extend regions initially within Europe and then worldwide. |
|
|
Director Ramírez Roma, Xavier |
||
|
Degree IQS SM - Master’s Degree in Industrial Business Management |
||
|
Date 2021-07-09
|
