Biopower pips Laser - Article in PCQuest - circa January 2007

Partial extract from an article on Hair Growth Inhibitor

A bio start-up in Pune challenges the Laser market for permanent hair removal with a unique plant-derived chemical solution

If you thought that love stories culminate only at aisles and lifelong-knots, here’s a couple with a fresh script. They met, fell in love, tied the knot and vowed for lifelong partnership like any other dove-deuce. 

The story however, starts then. It takes off from the altar, steps into a laboratory and then enters the business corridors where life partners turn into business partners and give birth to their first offspring: Mindfarm Novatech.

From Valentines to assembly lines

Bhushan Vishwanath met Mrinmayee, a microbiologist, when she, as a research student, was working on a protein synthesis study. The cupid hit and soon the couple got married. 

It was that day when Vishwanath made clear that while he would be the breadwinner for the family, Mrinmayee would continue to invest her time in something that is of intellectual significance, and contributes something lasting to the world. In short, she would continue with her research and explore fresh horizons without time or other constraints. 

Little did they know then, that a pursuit of mind could lead them into a new business territory altogether. Mrinmayee, who used her kitchen as a makeshift laboratory, embarked upon a thrilling idea while she was continuing her work on protein synthesis inhibitors. She hit upon a solution that can use plant-derived chemical for permanent follicle destruction, if applied according to the cyclical nature of hair-growth. After a series of checks like animal tests, toxicology studies and human tests, she materialized a tangible and much-cheaper alternative to the laser treatment for permanent hair-removal by using cytotoxic lectins – a well known group of molecules (commonly perceived to be dermally inactive) that can effect permanent follicle destruction with even negligible dermal absorption rates. 

After receiving all the requisite certifications from National Toxicology Lab, Pune and FDA, the couple morphed their marriage into a new joint venture. With Mrinmayee as the head of research and Bhushan at the helm of the marketing and business activities, they have successfully incubated the cheaper, bio-alternative for laser, in the form of an herbal cream.

Milking the cream

Mrinmayee Bhushan, microbiologist and director, and Bhushan Vishwanath, director, Mindfarm Novatech, have clearly betted big on this venture with their personal savings ............... 
Source : http://pcquest.ciol.com/content/search/showarticle.asp?artid=94048

Herbal cure for abnormal hair growth

It was the reluctance shown by a relative to face public after hair growing abnormally on her face that prompted Ms Mrinmayee Bhushan to find a remedy for the problem.

Ms Bhushan, a microbiologist who runs a firm with her husband in Pune, never forgot her relative’s face and 15 years later, she has now developed a herbal remedy for inhibiting abnormal hair growth in men and women, a work which was  recognised by the government along with 29 other innovations. 

She was awarded the Department of Science and Technology (DST) - Lockheed Martin award along with 29 others at a function here. The technology is all natural, plant-based cream establishment of plant-derived lectin that inhibits hair growth in men and women of all ages, the citation read.

“I was a microbiology student when I saw one of my relatives having abnormal hair growth. She lost confidence and started avoiding public. Then I decided one day, I will develop something which could be of help,” Ms Bhushan, who is planning to launch the product in six months, said.

…………………………. The awards, which carry a cash prize of Rs one lakh, a certificate and a medal, were presented by Mr T Ramasami, secretary of Department of Science and Technology and Mr Roy O Johnson of Lockheed Martin.
 

OFF WITH HER HAIR - What's the big idea ? Femina Oct 2010

Here is a reproduction of an article published about Romantaque and Mrinmayee in Femina in the issue of 06^th October 2010, written by Panna Saroopa.  It is on page 178-179 Femina of October 06, 2010 issue.

  

What’s the big idea?

We, as women, innovate every day. The only way to stay in the game is by discovering smarter ways to do everything. But imagine if your brainwave transformed your community or created a vision for the future. Our campaign celebrates such ideas and the women behind them. We bring you their inspiring stories in every issue. And if you already have a Big Idea or know of someone who has, write to us at femina@wwm.co.in with ‘What’s The Big Idea’ in the subject line. Happy inventing!

Off with Her Hair

Mrinmayee Bhushan’s Hairminator is a herbal cream that promises to permanently and painlessly put your razor and waxing strips to rest. By Panna Saroopa

To never have to wax again is a dream that drives women in hordes to laser clinics. It propels them to hand out wads of cash without flinching, since when you do the accounts, a lifetime of waxing jobs probably add up to more than any clinic would charge you to nip the problem in the bud. But imagine a hair cream, available over the counter, that postpones those waxing jobs by stunting hair growth? Mrinmayee Bhushan’s invention, the Hairminator, a herbal cosmetic cream, promises to do just that. It is probably the first of its kind in India. The Hairminator is patented hair growth inhibitor and promises you‘ll be hair-free for months.

ROOT IT OUT

The Hairminator has been 37-year-oldPune-based microbiologist Mrinmayee’s pet project for over a decade. “The Cream to be applied after hair is removed by waxing, epilation, plucking or threading. It has to be used daily for week, twice a day,” explains Mrinmayee. “The actives present in the product seep into the follicle and stunt its capacity to grow hair.” If you repeatedly use the cream on your skin after each waxing / threading session, the results Mrinmayee promises are gratifying. She says,”Even when the product use is not so consistent, the regrowth is weaker, thinner and lighter. You can go months without hair removal.

INSPIRED INVENTING

Mrinmayee’s aunt inspired her invention. “During my post-graduation a relative of mine was going through menopause. She was so conscious of her facial hair that she didn’t to step out of her home” says Mrinmayee. “Unwanted hair is the bane of modern women- both old and young – and I decided to do something about it. At that time I was in college, studying protein synthesis and protein synthesis inhibitors, and it suddenly struck me one day that this particular category of substances could be used for hair growth inhibition. That was the moment of truth.”

NOT JUST IN INDIA

The patenting process for Hairminator was a long and expensive one, but it resulted in Mrinmayee appearing for the patent agent examination herself.  Till date, her product has been credited with four patents – in India, Australia, South Africa and the UK. “I received a grant from the Department of Science and Technology and from the head of Techno-Entrepreneurship Promotion Programme. Which helped me improve the product even more.” says Mrinmayee.

AYURVEDA NEXT

Mrinmayee and her husband Bhushan floated a company called Mindfarm Novatech in 2003. “We documented innovative concepts and products, but the idea of hair growth inhibition topped my chart as the big idea,” says Mrinmayee whose perseverance was rewarded when the Maharashtra Government’s Food and Drug Administration gave them the license to manufacture the product in 2006. Soon the product – Romantaque, nicknamed – Hairminator was ready to be patented and hit the market. It’ll be available in stores like Apna Bazaar and Reliance. Deeply influenced by the different take Ayurveda offers to modern scientific researches like her, Mrinmayee is planning to use the ancient science to open up new leads to health issues like obesity, cardiovascular disease, lipomatosis and chemoprevention. As she puts it, “My dream is to create cost effective, all natural and side effects free cures that will link modern science and Ayurveda closely”.

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The Small, Silent Army - One more page from the past...

The IT superhighway at Pune is witnessing a new breed of roadsterssome smart tiny toddlers whisking silently with some interesting products on the roll. Who knows, they might overtake someone big soon

They are not denizens of giant IT parks, but strewn across the city in small bivouacs. They are not coming out with big IPOs but energetically working on new-generation products. They are not housing armies of code-jockeys, but lean, mean teams burning the midnight oil. There is nothing common between them. But they still have the same DNA. They are small, silent, and at it.

A Closer Look Who can otherwise imagine that the open source counterpart to Symbian might come out of one of these small companies in Pune, Celunite, that is focusing on the mobile technology platform.   . . .

. . . . Another bio start-up in Pune challenged the laser market for permanent hair removal with a unique plant-derived chemical solution emanating from a research work on protein synthesis inhibitors. Mrinmayee Bhushan, microbiologist and director hit upon a solution that can use plant-derived chemical for permanent follicle destruction, if applied according to the cyclical nature of hair-growth while her husband Bhushan Vishwanath, director, Mindfarm Novatech took it forward. Pockets of interest in Canada and Europe have shown favorable response. And the duo has confidently moved to the next API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) that varies in the degree of potency. The results are indeed compelling, says Mrinmayee. The couple received good response at the World Ayurvedic Forum too.

The list of these small wonders from Pune is not endless, but theres more brewing than what can be accommodated in this piece. Some of these ambitions may fizzle out, some may come out ablaze with a star product, some may challenge the big daddies with their fresh hits, while some may be doomed to stumbling blocks of failure.

IDEAS HAVE NO TAKERS, it was yesterday when they said,

Chronicaling the history for the sake of information and records. A piece from Pune Mirror of Times of India edition January 2009. Though what it is said there is a past and we have come a long way from there.

IDEAS HAVE NOT TAKERS

These ideas from city engineers are interesting, but they haven’t met with success yet. Anuradha Ranade reports

Posted by Arundhati Ranade on Monday , January 12, 2009

Bhushan and Mrunmayee Vishwanath created a cream – Romantaque – that’s a permanent solution for hair removal. It’s also cheaper than its competitors. Foreigners are interested in the product. But in India, this duo hasn’t had any luck so far.

Clippin’ counterfeit

With the number of ………These ideas were presented at an exhibition named Innovations that was orgniased on January 10-11 by IIT Bombay Alumni Association’s Pune chapter along with the The Indus Entrepreneurs,

Enquiries, no takers

Bhushan Vishwanath is a first generation entrepreneur who is basically an engineer. But his product comes under alternative medical treatment sector. He had presented a hair removing cream called Romantaque at Innovations 2007 and now his product is in the market, but is hardly getting response.

The reason he says, is that it’s a unique formulation and no similar product is available in the market. Because of lack of choices, people are not aware of its existence.

Vishwanath said, “My wife Mrunmayee, who is a microbiologist, has created this cream.”

Vishwanath first introduced Romantaque, an alovera cream which permanently removes unwanted hair growth, in 2004. “The routine ways to stop hair growth are either cosmetic surgery, electrolysis or laser treatment.  There is no such cream-based treatment available in India. “

This claim is actually Vishwanath’s problem. He’s getting enquiries from abroad, but Indian customers are hesitant to buy Romantaque, because they are not aware of such products. He said “There are few such creams in the West, but they cost four times more than our product. So people from abroad enquire about Romantaque  as it figures on online shopping sites. But currently we can’t export, as I have yet to get license for that”.

Vishwanath has applied for its Indian patent and has a patent from South Africa. Patent application in US, Australia and UK is in process. “My product has got an FDA license and I also got funding from Science and Technology Ministry of India

Note-worthy, ….

Having gone through the post now you could be the one who will go for it? right

Once upon a time,

Hi,

Let me tell you all about how Romantaque was born!

When I was doing my Post graduation, a female relative was going through typical symptoms of post-menopausal blues. Her life literally ‘paused’. In addition to other menopausal symptoms she realized that a couple of thick and dark hairs were growing on her chin. The more she tried to hide or remove those, the more stubbornly they kept coming back; as if with vengeance, thicker, longer and worse, more in numbers!

How much ever she tried to hide them, they attracted lot of attention from all the people. Some people just stared at the stubbles, some pointed fingers and giggled, and some of the friends gave unsolicited advice cum criticism about her lifestyle and various beauty treatments.

Clueless about the right treatment she kept trying every possible method to get rid of them….but to no avail, they persistently kept coming back. She retracted into a shell, started avoiding contact with people as much as possible. This lead to her making silliest kinds of mistakes. She started adding salt to tea instead of sugar. She started forgetting that the stove is on fire, and charring the rice though she was standing in front of it. Her going in to shell did not solve the situation, but was a small respite that she could manage in the pain.

It was extremely painful for me to watch a vivacious, confidant and young lady turn into a meek mouse, worried all the time. I thought I must do something about it.

It was a shear stroke serendipity that gave me the idea, about this particular active that I thought should be effective in stopping hair growth. Being a novice, I simply started working on the concept. Like an enthusiastic dreamy college student I expected that with a few applications the hair should vanish and never come back again. J

 Oooops! It did not work that way!

Disappointed, disenchanted and frustrated; now I thought it was idiotic to even think that hair growth can ever be even delayed.  Though I shrugged and moved on in my life, that vicarious pain was buried deep in my heart and it kept pinching me all the time.

One fine day I realized that the skin patch I had treated with my experimental magic potion was ‘actually’ growing less no of hair, which is thinner and lighter than the rest of the skin.

Oh my God! My magic potion was working! Equally enthusiastic about this ‘find’, my hubby joined me in this dream of developing it into a technologically backed, safe and effective product and of reaching out to as many ladies as possible.

We pledged all our life-savings, our careers to this Technology. After almost 9-10 years of a roller-coaster ride of testing and trials, product launch and refinements, patents and awards, we will be launching shortly, the product “Romantaque” for you.

By the way in 2011, our technology won DST Lockheed Martin India Innovation Award organized by Department  of Science and Technology (Government  of India), Lockheed Martin Corporation of  United States of America , FICCI and IC2- University of Texas.

So now the stage is set for Romantaque!

Mrinmayee Bhushan