The Pharmacist Taking On A Billion Dollar Industry
IN THE MIDDLE OF what was once the dining room in the Mississauga home where he resides, Sanish ‘Sunny’ Devani is sitting on a swivelling chair, turning one way to another robotically. He has tattered workout gloves over his hands, and a small towel draped over his right shoulder, which he uses to wipe the sweat off his brow when it drips down into his eyes. Boxes and boxes of various personal protective equipment (PPE) products surround him, everything from surgical, N95, and filtered cotton masks to gloves, alcohol wipes, and his own brand of hand sanitizer: Sanigel. When Sunny finally turns to me as he finishes packing the final box of an order that needs to ship, he exclaims “Man it gets hot working with these masks on!”
For the last 5 hours, Sunny was working diligently to fill the various orders that he has received across the different platforms that products from his newfound company, Devsan Systems Inc, are located on. The full-time pharmacist had taken it upon himself to provide his local community with inaccessible or overpriced hand sanitizer, which soon grew into a wider supply company for PPE. His website, https://www.devsan.ca/, lists a variety of different products, including non-PPE items such as thermometers. As Sunny walks over to the family room for the interview, he stops to pour a glass of Schenley Original From Canada 6 Year Whiskey and asks if I would like to indulge. “I believe in supporting local,” he says, “and Canadian Whiskey is slept on in my opinion.” We make our way and as he sits down in his armchair, he seems to sink in while he lets out a deep relieving sigh. With a raise of our glasses, he takes a long sip and settles in for the interview.
What was your motivation to start this company?
To be honest, when I started this endeavor, I had no intentions of starting a company. During the start of the pandemic, I was getting endless requests for hand sanitizer at the pharmacy. Not only were we unable to provide any as there were apparently none available from our suppliers, but not one pharmacy I knew could order any as well. Surprisingly, an acquaintance of mine in motor oil distribution was able to obtain and sell large quantities of hand sanitizer, so I knew there was a gap in the supply chain that needed to be bridged. I actually started this to get a much needed commodity into the hands of healthcare professionals.
Then why not order from the suppliers that your acquaintance had?
Immoral and inflationary pricing. At the time, the companies that were producing hand sanitizer were jacking up the cost because consumers would buy at exorbitant prices. Pharmacies and pharmacists have to abide by a Code of Ethics, so we have the obligation to sell goods and services to patients at a reasonable price. Pharmacies were kind of cut out in the process.
So your response was to manufacture your own hand sanitizer, Sanigel. How did that come about?
Firstly, the motive behind Sanigel was frustration with the industry profiting off the pandemic. I figured there was no way that the cost to produce the product matched the market price, so I started digging. I looked up local manufacturing companies and called to see what can be done, and after endless calls found one who walked me through the procedure. From there I just jumped headfirst in by convincing the company to work with me to make my own brand.
How involved were you in the process?
Completely from step 1. There were a lot of iffy products on the market with names like ‘alcohol cleanser’ or ‘virus disinfectant’. In order to label a product as ‘hand sanitizer’, you need a Health Canada approval for an NPN [Natural Product Number]. So to do that, I had to make a formulation by researching non-medicinal ingredients and excipients. I worked in the lab with the company to come with a formula. I have very dry skin, and alcohol sanitizers make it worse, so I wanted to come up with something that is soothing and very moisturizing. There is so much more I had to learn as well, things like label plates, bottle sizing and acquisition prior to the bottling process, and proper documentation.
Okay, so now you have your product, what next?
The first thing I did was supply a number of pharmacies that I knew needed hand sanitizer. It was important for me to have a cost-point that makes sense for the consumer as they are the most important people when it comes to safety and prevention. The spread of COVID-19 was just beginning to be understood, remember this was back in February. I knew how important it was to get patients to ‘buy-in’ to preventative measures, and the biggest barrier was cost. Put yourself in the shoes of the customer. If someone told me to use hand sanitizer to prevent coronavirus but spend thirty dollars on a 200ml bottle, I would’ve told them to buzz off!
How did you then grow into the PPE supplier you are now?
Word of mouth. Word of mouth is a powerful thing, and once one pharmacy owner talked to another, who talked to another, I was getting orders for Sanigel left, right, and centre. And from there I was getting calls and texts asking for other products at reasonable price points as well. It didn’t even occur to me that price gouging for everything from masks to gloves was taking place. So that fueled me to set up a dedicated website and supply chain for the various different PPE products that were needed in the market. I started working out of this house to use it as a warehouse, but due to demand, I eventually had to rent out some space to store goods.
You work full-time as a pharmacist, how have you managed to find the time to do all this?
It’s not easy, I’ll tell you that. I regularly sleep only 2 or 3 hours at night because there is so much work to do. I love being a pharmacist, and I don’t intend to give up that part of my life. So whatever time I have between shifts, I answer emails, phone calls, take, assemble, and ship orders, and whatever else that needs to be done. I mean on top of having to keep up my clinical knowledge, I have to be up-to-date on market pricing, availability, and supply chains of PPE goods. It’s non-stop, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Do you intend on expanding or hiring any staff?
(Laughs) I definitely can’t afford to hire anyone at this point.
I’ve seen some social media posts about you donating your products to charity, care to speak on that?
Oh you would not believe how many organizations are in need of protective equipment. I’ve donated thousands of dollars of masks, hand sanitizers, and other products to a number of causes, shelters, food banks, and some other businesses that were struggling to make ends meet because it’s the right thing to do. I want everyone to know that these places have been hit hard. I mean real, real hard. Many charities already operate on a shoestring budget so when the pandemic came, they, but more importantly the people they serve, received a blindside hit. I hope that any company that operates in this space has the wherewithal to give back to the community.
That really is an inspiring story. Where do you see yourself moving forward from here?
For now, I just want to stay focused on getting all of my orders filled, assisting those that need it most, and helping with the fight against COVID-19. There are still items in the market like nasopharyngeal swabs or universal transport medium that are being sold at a ridiculous mark-up. Unauthorized test kits are being marketed and sold too. Ideally, the next step would be to find credible manufacturers for these goods and distribute them at a cost that is beneficial to society. Just have to keep moving step at a time.
