Each organism has its own role in maintaining the ecosystem on this planet. Insects for example are needed for seed dispersal, pollination and more. However, in terms of agriculture not all insects are helpful. With science’s help, it is possible to control and even eliminate some of tem to help protect crop.
Situated at Pimpri-Chinchwad, Maharashtra, Ross Lifescience Private Limited offers innovative and sustainable products that suit the customer’s need in the areas of integrated pest management, household and body care, environmental sciences and so on. In an interview with the Insights Success, the company’s spokesperson sheds light on its impressive journey, various offering, and its future plans.
Kindly brief us about the company. What prompted the founders to start an Agriculture Solution provider and the initial struggle?
Ross Lifescience Private Limited is a contract research organization based in Pune, India and has been operating for more than 10 years now. The name is also a tribute to nobel laureate Sir Ronald Ross, who discovered how malaria is transmitted from mosquitoes to man.
We are engaged in product development and analytical services (chemistry, Bioefficacy and Ecotoxicity) including registration data generation related to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which involves crop protection, public health, and house hold insecticides and veterinary ecto-parasiticides.
Ross Lifescience has expert and experienced staff comprising of Analytical chemists, Entomologists and Toxicologists coupled with state of the art infrastructure laboratory equipped with sophisticated instruments for conducting product development and analytical studies assisted by advisory panel of repute.
Brief us about the Founder/CEO of the company and the major contribution of him/ her towards the development of the company.
Our company marches ahead towards excellence under the ardent leadership of the four founding members, Dr. Kedar Deobhankar – CEO; Dr. Swati Vitonde – Director – Finance & HR; Mr. Nitin Ghatpande – Director – Business Development; and Dr. Deepak Phal – Director – Technical Services. The dedicated efforts of these four spearheads have led the company to what it is today.
Tell us about the services you provide through your venture.
We engage in new product development and data generation for registration purposes and evaluating product performance especially related to Agrochemicals, Vector control and Household insecticides. The main scope of activity, though, is registration data generation for new molecules and formulations that would enable our clients to introduce the product quickly into the market.
Below are some of the services that we offer:
- Chemistry (Physical and Chemical properties) including 5 batch analysis
- Stability studies (accelerated and real-life study in different agroclimatic conditions)
- Residue and Persistency studies in soil, water and plant
- Ecotoxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
- Entomological studies (Lab and field trials)
- Field trials for evaluating product performance against target pests for Agrochemicals, Vector control and Household insecticides.
- Field trials for studying impact of formulations on aquatic flora and fauna
- Product and Packaging Development
- Conducting pre-registration and post registration clinical trials for insecticide products
Please share some success stories, awards and accolades that the company has received.
Our company was incepted in the year 2008 and owing to our dedicated endeavors, we received the ISO 9001 (2008) certification in the year 2010. In the same year, we also received the ISBA Entrepreneurship Award. Our dedicated endeavors led our company to receive the ISO 17025 (NABL) certification.
Eventually, we received the DSIR Certification (2013), and the CIB&RC and GLP approvals in the years 2015 and 2017 respectively.
How does the company intend to give back to the society?
Ross Lifescience is actively involved in imparting technical knowledge to the students of nearby colleges and regularly conducts summer training programs in analytical chemistry and entomology to college students. We also conduct training programs for safe use and handling of insecticides to professional pest control operators. Our company is also engaged in CSR program and conducts activities in the field of mosquito borne diseases for benefit to the community.
What are the latest technologies that you use to deliver your services?
Ross is a GLP certified and ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. We have state-of-the art facility for entomology with peet grady chambers, room chambers with air exchange facility, in-house developed automatic timely delivery and monitoring systems for spray and knock down. Whereas, talking about analytical instrumentation strength, we have instruments UpToDate to match the contemporary technological needs of our projects. We have GC-MS, Tandem MS, Headspace GC-MS, HPLC, LC-MS to name a few.
We have a competent and expert QAU department that has in place a robust audit program to check that the systems and processes comply to the guidelines of Good Laboratory Practices enabling timely and quality delivery of services leading to customer satisfaction.
Brief us about the future of the company or the goal it has set to mark its exceptionality in future.
Our company has posted a healthy growth of around 30% Y-O-Y from its inception in 2008. The vision of Ross Lifescience is to be ‘a leading contract research organization for creating, innovative, customer focussed solution that offer cutting edge technology in the field of Integrated Pest Management.’
With the above vision, our endeavor is to add new techniques especially related to cell assays that would help accurate and quicker toxicological assessment of product without using experimental animals. Presently, our efforts are directed towards adding e-fate studies to complement existing activities and enhancing infrastructure to accommodate state of the art analytical equipment.
One piece of advice for the budding entrepreneurs who are trying to embark in the same field.
Have faith in yourself and give your best with utmost honesty. At the beginning, things may look difficult but never say die attitude and persistent efforts in right direction would lead you to success.
