Any journey driven by passion and commitment can only be a beautiful one. Ours is one such journey that began in 2016, the year when years of research and knowledge in the pharmaceutical industry resulted in the founding of Amaterasu Lifesciences by Mahrukh T Rustomjee.
With an enviable portfolio and her desire to make a mark in product innovation and regulatory sciences, the foundation for Amaterasu was laid with a strong foundation of high values and a belief system that the unmet needs of customers should be addressed with the best personal and healthcare products in the market.
Having had a very successful career in leading pharma industries such as Novartis, GSK and having co-founded and built a successful research services company - Rubicon Research; Mahrukh's conviction to pursue a career on her own terms, about something she was truly passionate about, led her into her second entrepreneurship.
Building up her own venture which would give her the opportunity to put all her research and scientific knowledge to use, while truly enjoying her work while at it, was a huge motivator in the founding of Amaterasu Life Sciences. We are where we are today, thanks to a team that is as passionate as Mahrukh about the work we are doing.
The Journey:
“In Dec 2016 after exiting my earlier entrepreneurial venture I was at cross-roads of how to pursue my professional career over the next 10 years or so. Having worked full time from the age of 22 & having been self employed and an entrepreneur I just could not imagine a life without my work at all. At that point I felt the need to start another venture but this time with the liberty of doing work which I was passionate about and would have truly enjoyed” - Maharukh TR
With a humble start in 2016, in a work-from-home set up with just two team members, Amaterasu went on to set up their first office in 2017 with a team of three and Mahrukh. While filing for a provisional patent for their anti-chafing technology, Amaterasu was looking for collaborations with motivated academic research groups and leading pharma companies to co-develop innovative injectable products and to research treatments for malaria and Alzheimer’s.
“After a lot of introspection I realised that I needed to continue my research with a vengeance and this time I wanted to concentrate on developing innovations which would solve the unmet need of Indian consumers, patients and doctors. I also wanted to give back to society by collaborating and mentoring academic research groups to develop commercialisable research products and thus enhancing the value add for institutes and students”
In 2018, we initiated a successful collaboration with Professor Padma Devarajan’s Research group at Institute of Chemical Technology(ICT), Mumbai and our US partner for this research, we also initiated collaboration with our Indian partner for development of complex generic topical products. The year ended with the successful manufacture of our first commercial batches of SkinEasi Activ anti-chafing product and filing of the patent for one of our injection innovations
From setting up digital test marketing of SkinEasi Activ gel on Amazon and a marketing and logistics office in Mumbai, with an expanded team, 2019 marked a year of growth and expansion for Amaterasu. With the launch of SkinEasi Regina and SkinEasi Comfoot we expanded the much needed offerings for our customers. We also followed it up by venturing into test marketing of Soreze Gel, India’s first one of its kind product for prevention of pressure ulcers and bed sores.
After the successful filing of the US patent for anti-chafing gel technology, the year 2020 also saw the launch of the e-commerce website for SkinEasi range of products. Amidst the Covid situation and lockdown, we reinitiated the digital marketing of SkinEasi products.
A journey that started four years ago and a journey that we will be on with the same passion and conviction in years to come, we at Amaterasu believe that we will continue to focus and evolve to make innovative products that will be a unanimous and easily made choice for the needs of our customers.
