Hi Avinash, The analysis is simply pointing to what is of interest to PE firms here - the company's chosen niche. The trend shows an overwhelming and unusual number of investments as compared to the rest of the sector. That said, if other pharma companies decide to double up on the specialised segment and when price caps become a point of contention in this segment (which it is not so far), there will be reasons for this strategy to waver. The intention is also to point out some very valid reasons why no other pharma companies are steering away from what seems to be working for this company. If you had any specific curiosities about what the piece doesn't talk about, I'd be happy to try to answer them. Thanks for the comment.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Yash, Since this article talks about impacts of the loyalty program on the entire hospital ecosystem, and not just Apollo Pharmacy, the comparison wouldn’t be apples to apples. But, what these loyalty programs yield for these businesses would have some common themes. Thanks for the comment, I will talk about the e-pharmacy loyalty programs and their impact in future stories.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Great point, Parag! The data that comes from this is still pretty untapped but has great potential for upselling and cross-selling. Will talk about this in future stories.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Thanks for the comment, Abhishek. For this article, it wasn't just limited to pharmacy but the entire hospital ecosystem, hence the comparison wouldn't be apples to apples. But, surely the sentiment with loyalty programs and what it yields for these businesses might have similar themes. Will touch upon this in future pieces.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Hi Ankitha, This article's insights have been seconded by several IVF industry professionals and couples who underwent IVF. Many OBGYNs and IVF specialists too, who themselves want to practice with the correct protocol of treatment have pointed to these problems in the sector. I'd be glad to learn what part of the story you found misleading and your perspective on this. But, the idea of this piece was to talk about systemic issues that need to be tackled for the infertility treatment industry to be robust as the embryologists, andrologists and other doctors indicate in this piece. Thus, this is a big insight on women's health today, a pressing one at that.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Hi Gautam, ICR here is the claims paid for from collected premiums whereas loss ratio is the loss incurred due to claims paid with respect to the premiums collected. Hope this helps.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Hi Feneil, The em dash (—) is used to give an explanatory detail about the word immediately preceding the em dash, in this case, the FY24 revenue. To add some clarity, 65% of Ultrahuman's revenue (pointing to its US revenue) would be ~Rs400 Crore. Hope this helps.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Hi, Thanks for your comment. This story was intended to bring this case to light, given a company that had stellar investors and touch points in the healthcare industry went about its operations in an unreliable way. The reason behind what this story probes (why Karkinos went into insolvency followed by a convenient acquisition) isn't merely a hypothesis. The company's case of accumulated loans and insufficient revenue is corroborated by the insolvency professional (quoted in the piece) who executed the resolution plan in this case. His insights and those from several investors and industry experts are quoted in this story. My approach with this story was to show what happened and the observations of different stakeholders and industry professionals who have witnessed the company's activities closely since it was founded. While I would want to understand if there is any particular aspect you were curious about in addition to these, I believe this case needed to be spoken about in a timely way. It brings forward an important aspect - how reliable is investing (without due diligence) in a company looking at other credible investors on board— something multiple investors quoted in this story say they take away from this case.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Yash, I have cited one study about the cardiac product in the story. You can find another about the efficacy of remote electrical neuromodulation, the migraine device cited in this story published on the NLM(National Library of Medicine) website.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Hi Kaushik, Yes, you're right. There is a 16% premium jump from age 35-36. For context, Age 30-35 there is a 6% increase in premiums. Age 36-40 there is a 3% increase. So for that age bracket, there is a spike at 35-36. But from 45-46, it is a 26% increase.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer

Hi, The government is asking these companies for data to create an e-catalogue of sorts, i.e. collective information from across the country to understand the gamet of different products that have the same active ingredient or can be alternatives. This part not directly affecting any one paying customer. However, these founders mentioned they can also ask for data to verify information of these pharmacies i.e. again their paying customers - this is a double edged sword. Like we mention in the piece, it is good for them for visibility and credibility (they would be govt. software partner pharmacies), but also scrutiny would be tighter. Having said that, for the second part, there might be consent/making their customers aware that this pro/con will exist going forward, when the data is decided to be shared (it is not yet) and customers can weigh the pros and cons of being in this software providers network.

Sudeshna Ray The Ken, Staff Writer