Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Dr. Sarath Malepati of EZC Pak Is Helping To Change Our World
Being a founder is extremely lonely. Yet attitude is destiny. Example: You will go through 999 rejections and waste of time interactions, but you must hold on for that 1 yes.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarath Malepati.
Sarath Malepati is a surgeon entrepreneur and creator of EZC Pak. EZC Pak is an award-winning physician-directed 5-day pack of Echinacea, zinc, and vitamin C developed as solution to reduce antibiotic misuse in viral upper respiratory infections. The product is designed to address patient requests for antibiotics when the clinician deems them unnecessary by providing a tangible, physician-directed 5-day plan that empowers both the patient and clinician. Available over the counter at retailers and medical offices throughout the US and a growing number of international markets, Dr. Malepati sits down with us to discuss the results of EZC Pak’s recent NIH-registered double blind clinical trial.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
EZC Pak was developed as a solution to reduce antibiotic misuse in viral colds and flu. The overuse of antibiotics is fueling a superbug crisis that every healthcare provider and pharmacist on the planet is dealing with. Many people have had a loved one exposed to an antibiotic-resistant or ‘superbug’ infection.
In my own practice, C. diff colitis infections that are a result of antibiotic overuse have become increasingly stronger and more lethal. While we are misusing antibiotics throughout our food supply and in the healthcare system globally, inappropriate use of antibiotics for viral upper respiratory infections are the low hanging fruit we must address first.
EZC Pak is designed as a first line agent over the counter tool to reduce antibiotic misuse when patients have coughs, runny noses, and sore throats. EZC Pak is a physician-directed 5-day dose pack of Echinacea purpurea, zinc, and vitamin C that is clinically formulated and backed by a recent NIH-registered double blind randomized clinical trial.
EZC Pak has much higher doses of its active ingredients than you would find in a generic bottle off a store shelf or on Amazon. Many of these are basically sugar packets or gummies that are bad for your teeth. They generally contain much lower doses of the active ingredients stated on the bottle than you would need to take to actually have any benefit.
Further, you shouldn’t be taking or exposing yourself to Echinacea or extra zinc on a daily basis that these bottles typically have. Just like an antibiotic, the more sparingly Echinacea is used, the more effective it remains. Taking excess zinc daily can cause other electrolyte and heavy metal absorption abnormalities. EZC Pak is designed as a short-term boost to your normal immune system defenses. It contains no added sugar and is diabetic safe. As a good rule, focus on improving your diet, sleep, and exercise. Don’t take extra vitamins you don’t need.
The EZC Pak clinical trial showed three key findings: 1) Use of EZC Pak results in a 1.4 day reduction in illness duration, representing a 28–53% reduction in the average duration of a cold. 2) Use of EZC Pak results in a 15–20% reduction in symptom severity. 3) Patients who use EZC Pak have approximately 3 times higher patient satisfaction vs. placebo. None of the products you will commonly find on the typical pharmacy, grocery, or Amazon shelf have any clinical efficacy data backing their use. The vast majority are a waste of money.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
EZC Pak has won every major industry award as the top cold and flu product in retail pharmacy. This includes two Buyer’s Choice Awards, two Retail Excellence (REX) Awards in the Over the Counter Category, and two DataBird Business Journal Awards as a Top Company for Women. The company has also been featured in an animation produced in collaboration with talent from the Cartoon Network that went viral on Facebook. This led to being featured in a winning deal on ABC’s Shark Tank, where I discussed the antibiotic resistance problem. A few months after Shark Tank, EZC Pak became the number one selling product on Amazon for virtually every COVID-related search term during the COVID-19 pandemic. EZC Pak was recently placed on every CVS shelf in America. EZC Pak is the biggest challenger story in the drug industry in the past 10 years.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a significant mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I have had several instances of bad hires or consulting engagements. They turned out to either be incompetent, did not take adequate care of the business, or a mix of both. People who fake it till they make it need to be removed aggressively. As a manager it’s a nuisance, but is a critical part of the work. You have to keep pushing your organization onward and upward.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact? Can you also tell us about the recent study done on EZC Pak?
While antibiotic misuse and the superbugs it breeds harm us all, it often is most rampant among people with less resources and bad healthcare access. Antibiotics are cheap and easily available. They have also historically been marketed heavily directly to consumers, compounding an already dangerous situation. As a result, we give out an enormous amount of EZC Pak at our own cost to free clinics and homeless shelters, especially during the peak cold & flu months.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by EZC-Pak use?
98% of sinus infections are caused by viruses. Yet antibiotics, which only treat bacterial infections, are commonly misused in sinusitis. We have had some patients who frequently receive antibiotics for sinusitis cut their annual antibiotic usage rate by over 90% by adopting EZC Pak when they get a severe runny nose or sinus pressure. This is dramatic and leads to reduced antibiotic resistance and ultimately, saved lives.
What are three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Buy EZC Pak. Use EZC Pak. Save antibiotics for when they are only truly necessary. If you follow this, you are helping humanity solve a complex problem with a simple act of making a good choice with your own personal health.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is doing the right thing even when it is hard or unpopular. Doctors are faced with enormous pressures — from doling out prescriptions and tests people don’t need from the business side of healthcare, professional peer pressure from bad practicing colleagues, and patient pressure to write antibiotics when they know it is wrong. It’s important that we collectively turn the tide and do the right thing.
What are 5 things you wish someone told you when you first started and why?
- There is not a good professional venture investor ecosystem for consumer health products sold in retail pharmacy. Example: Bankers have grown accustomed to direct to consumer metrics that are easily available in more granular detail via digital advertising and e-commerce platforms.
- The amount of repetition required to incite behavioral change is cost intensive and time intensive, even for a solution that seems so obvious. Example: We have spent a lot of time and money on growing EZC Pak as a replacement for popular antibiotics commonly asked for by name, but we need to keep investing in supporting clinicians and educating patients to drive change.
- People are generally lazy and will take the easiest path possible. To spur adoption, you need to meet them where they are. This may at times be difficult to achieve. Example: Don’t expect people to drive down the street for something they can have dropped at their front doorstep by a truck three days later. Seamless one- click shopping is more important than daily truck pollution in your neighborhood and excess heaps of cardboard boxes in your trash can in our current cultural context.
- You need to build a vast network of people from diverse backgrounds and walks of life who share and support your vision to build a consumer health brand that turns the tide on bad or addictive behaviors like antibiotic overuse. Example: EZC Pak has users and supporters of every background and walk of life you could possibly imagine. It’s remarkable to be honest and something I never contemplated. That connection is amazing and humbling.
- Being a founder is extremely lonely. Yet attitude is destiny. Example: You will go through 999 rejections and waste of time interactions, but you must hold on for that 1 yes.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
How you do anything is how you do everything. Come from a place of excellence every day. I take my responsibilities as an MD on the planet very seriously.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I am always happy to meet new people of good character and ethic. For more information on my work, they can visit ezcpak.com. I appreciate your support. Thanks!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Dr Sarath Malepati of EZC Pak Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.