Mahidol University and B-52 Capital forms joint venture to develop commercial products
Mahidol University and B-52 Capital Plc announced historic cooperation by forming a joint venture to develop commercial products based on research and innovations of the prestigious university with the ultimate goal to benefit the public.
The university and B-52, the investment and business development network company, announced that the joint venture will start its businesses by developing six groups of products: medicine, dietary supplements and vitamins, herbal products, medical foods, medical equipment, and medical innovations. The products will be produced following the MST Standard for respective product groups for the ultimate benefit of consumers.
The medicines, dietary supplements, vitamins, and herbal products will be produced by M Med Pharma Co., Ltd. under the M MED brand.
Prof Dr. Banchong Mahaisavariya, president of Mahidol University said during the press conference that cooperation with an experienced firm like the B-52 Capital would allow the university to further develop commercial products from its research and innovations for the tangible and sustainable benefits of the Thai society and international communities.
“Apart from our efforts to become an internationally accredited university, Mahidol is determined to use knowledge from our research and innovations to further develop products to benefit both the Thai society and the international communities sustainably and tangibly,” Banchong said.
“It’s crucial for us to cooperate with a private firm like B-52 Capital Plc, which has knowledge, expertise, and experience in business management. B-52 has partners in businesses and investments as well as comprehensive networks for distributing goods and services in the country and abroad, so it will play a crucial role to steer our mission to become successful.”
Prof Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, chairman of the advisory board of B-52 Capital Plc, expressed support for Mahidol’s vision to develop products based on its knowledge for the public benefit.
“I extremely agree with the vision and determination of Mahidol University to bring its valuable knowledge, research, and innovations outside the university to develop products for sustainable and tangible benefits of the public,” Surakiart said.
“Today, the ability of a university to use its knowledge, research, and innovations in real life or to create changes in the society is no less important than creating quality academic works and providing quality teaching and researching as well as developing innovations.
“Having a business partner to overcome the limitations of a university for raising funds, making commercial products, planning market strategies, logistic management, and business management is crucial for a university to implement its knowledge and innovations commercially or to use the knowledge and innovations to develop the economy, society, and quality of life of the general people.”
Tawee Kositjiranan, vice-chairman of the advisory board of B-52 Capital Plc, expressed confidence that B-52 would be able to help Mahidol achieve its mission.
“B-52 Capital Plc feels extremely honored to have an opportunity to help Mahidol University develop products with our professional business management team and with our network of business partners. We have investments both in the country and abroad and there are over 160,000 shops around the country in our network for distributing B-52 goods and services. Therefore, we’re confident that we can help Mahidol succeed in this mission,” Tawee said.
Meanwhile, Piroon Savettanun, chief executive officer of M Med Pharma Co., Ltd, said M MED products are made under good standards monitored and guaranteed by the university.
“We believe that good quality health products must come from good standards and Mahidol is expertized in this field,” Piroon said.
“The strong point of M MED brand is that the products are made with knowledge from innovations and researches of Mahidol. Experts from the university also help us check the standards of the products, starting from checking the quality of raw materials to affirming the products are safe and stored under the MST Standard concept.
“This ensures that M MED products have high quality and they are safe and highly efficient.
”We want to make M MED products a leading brand of health products for Thais no matter whether they are dietary supplements, medicine, medical foods, medical equipment, and medical innovations.”
Piroon added that the press event also introduced the Krachai Plus product, which is a fingerroot dietary supplement under the M MED brand. Krachai Plus is now ready for distribution and other M MED products will come out to the market soon, Piroon concluded.
During the event to announce the joint venture, M MED Pharma also launched the M MED Krachai (fingerroot) Plus product, which is now available for sale. The M Med Pharma will gradually launch more products shortly.
The event also saw Doctor At Home, which is a smart telemedicine platform developed by M Medical Innovation Co., Ltd, introduced to the public. The app has been developed for over 40 years by Assoc Prof Dr. Surakiat Archananuparp to tackle the issue of inadequate doctors in rural areas.
Now, the Doctor At Home platform helps all Thais to access doctors, pharmacists, a comprehensive database of diseases and medicine as well as health information. Using the app is like having a doctor take care of the users personally.
Apart from using the Doctor At Home app to preliminary diagnoses the users’ health conditions when they feel not well, they can use the app to consult doctors and pharmacists online. Other services will be gradually added up to the platform. The Doctor At Home platform will be officially launched in the near future.
