Premium Quality for Better Health
PROJECT DIRECTED BY
WRITTEN BY
Harry Bradfield
Romana Moares
Swiss SPC
Premium Quality for Better Health In a global pandemic, health protection using reliable, high-quality equipment is of prime importance – something that Swiss healthcare company Swiss SPC has made its core business. Its founder and Managing Director Alain Schibl spoke to Business Enquirer about the principles that have driven his business to global success.
Alain Schibl, Founder & MD, Swiss SPC
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s the COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim thousands of lives around the world, governments and corporations have been left with few options to obtain products that are able to guarantee the safety of their citizens and employees. “The sheer scale of the problem has created a frenzy for preventative medical goods and a correspondingly large number of supply-side distortions, astronomical prices, scams, and delivery issues,” says Alain Schibl. He affirms that Swiss SPC, established only three years ago, but drawing on the decades of experience of its owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate managers is able to provide its clients with the reliability and clarity that is lacking in the current environment. Alain, having managed several businesses throughout his long and successful career, describes himself as an entrepreneur, committed to conducting business in a transparent and ethical manner. As a shareholder in Biokema, a company distributing animal medicines, from antibiotics to food supplements, to veterinary practices in Switzerland since 1964, Alain has been involved in the medical business for fifteen years. When the pandemic hit two and a half years ago, his vet clients started to complain about the shortage of equipment they needed such as face masks and gowns, indicating a coming growth of demand on a global scale. In parallel with his animal drug company, Alain established Swiss SPC specialising in sourcing much-needed PPE equipment directly from factories. “The more we dug into this segment, the more we saw that it was subject to scams and dubious entrepreneurs, people with no knowledge or scruples but seeing an opportunity to make money, taking advantage of governments and companies desperately trying to respond to the situation. We have all heard the stories of governments purchasing large volumes of face masks of questionable quality for astronomic prices only for these to be scrapped in the end as unusable.”
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Swiss SPC Growing by partnerships The company, founded in Switzerland, soon received – amongst the first – approval from the Swiss army, the entity officially authorised to distribute PPE in the country, and the business took off from there with great speed, expanding not only in Europe but worldwide. “We provide our PPE solutions to people in about 50 countries around the world, working on the basis of longterm contracts with big corporates, and we want to keep it that way,” says Alain.
Healthcare Feature the director of the Institute of Microbiology of the University Hospital of Lausanne, one of the largest hospitals in Switzerland, and one that has been included to the list of the ten best hospitals in the world by the prestigious U.S. magazine Newsweek,” Alain points out.
Transparent business The current portfolio of Swiss SPC includes a range of protective and disposable masks, sanitisers, gowns, gloves, syringes, testing kits and more. “Our product offering reflects demand. Over the last two months, the testing kits have been the biggest part of the business, before that it was the face masks and gowns. Face masks and gloves will remain in demand for years to come, required predominantly in two types of environments – the medical and food industries.”
Swiss SPC is positioned as a solution provider, he explains. The company advices its clients on where to purchase the material, inspects the quality and price and does due diligence on the suppliers to make sure that contracts are genuine.
“A lot of large corporations, such as Mondelez, for example, have taken Covid-19 very seriously, and the measures they have adopted to make sure that their staff and products are virus-free will remain in place, in order to prevent liability for contamination,” reflects Alain Schibl.
“It is very important to verify appropriate and acceptable product quality. For example, a face mask is made in several protective categories which all look the same, undistinguishable by the general public, with a lot of fakes on the market that look exactly the same. By advising our clients we try to make sure that they get what they pay for, and the products are supplied from genuine suppliers.”
All these factors have pushed Swiss SPC to new heights over the last two years. The “Swiss branding” certainly helped to grow the business but Alain points out that another factor that opened the door to sophisticated markets such as North America, the Nordic countries and the UK, has been its transparency. “We never hide anything. There so many crooks in this business and companies see scams left, right and centre that they are relieved to see a company that does honest business. Being a Swiss brand helps but you have to live up to that reputation.”
He explains that the company’s business model is multi-facetted, based on partnerships. Swiss SPC has a partnership with a factory in Morocco that produces face masks under the company’s brand. These are sold worldwide, the largest markets being the United States and Canada. Similar partnerships drive the delivery of other PPE products such as disposable gloves and gowns. Swiss SPC has also partnered with AMEDA, an Austrian manufacturer of high quality routine IVD products for use in clinical chemistry, immunology, haematology and coagulation. These include the COVID-19 rapid screening tests, COVID-19 antibody tests as well as a saliva test, all CE approved. “The very best quality of our tests has been confirmed by Professor Gilbert Greub,
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He further points out that the company is always looking at portfolio expansion and what the next product will be. Currently Swiss SPC is considering a partnership with a Korean company which specialises in sanitising sticks, sold under the Dr Clo brand.
Medical professionals wearing full PPE
The sticks sterilise the air in an enclosed space, offering a 4 weeks continuous sanitising effect for a room. “The company now also makes a Dr Clo insert into name labels used in convention centres and large gathering, that – worn around the neck – offers portable protection against airborne bacteria and viruses. A great product with a great potential,” says Alain.
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Healthcare Feature
Swiss SPC
Looking ahead “We are constantly working on new things. This includes sustainable solutions. We are now looking for a company to partner with for recycling PPE. There are so many face masks just thrown away that we are looking into starting a programme with hospitals and pharmacies to tackle the issue.” The right people are key for moving the business forward, and Alain Schibl has ample experience in choosing the right team. “People you know, people you can trust are the basis of a successful business. The product is always easy but to find the right people that are honest and on the same wavelength is another thing.” “A solid human capital base, with the right experience and the right credentials, is what makes the difference. Our team consists of prime experts in their field, such as Dr Cédric Loiret-Bernal, a senior global healthcare investment professional, and Yves Perrin, with a long professional career in pharmacology.” While the pandemic will hopefully end, the demand for PPE will – to some extent – remain. Still, Alain Schibl is looking further ahead. “I’m an entrepreneur. I am always aware of new trends, new developments. So, is this my final company? Absolutely not. The markets are speeding up in new directions. Banking, food tech... these are sectors where new technologies, new science will contribute to major transformation, bringing new opportunities. I’m watching carefully.” buyer@swiss-spc.com www.swiss-spc.com
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Swiss SPC www.swiss-spc.com
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