Curesure
Sri Ramchandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), Chennai
Curesure, a team from DST-GDC I-NCUBATE Cohort 03, began their entrepreneurial journey with the goal of commercializing a patented mucoadhesive gel formulation containing Silymarin—originally developed to alleviate oral ulcers in patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. The founding team, PhD scholars Anju Nair and Senthil Subramaniyan from Sri Ramachandra Medical College, were inspired by the work of their mentor, Dr. Divya, a clinician, researcher, and academic. Backed by a compelling scientific innovation and an early competition win, the team was confident that their solution would make an immediate impact in the healthcare market.
However, their experience in the GDC I-NCUBATE program marked a turning point. The program challenged their assumptions and redirected their focus from the product to the customer. On the very first day, a simple exercise revealed a critical oversight—they had misunderstood who their actual customer was. While they initially believed the patient to be their end user, the real decision-makers turned out to be radiation oncologists and other healthcare providers. This insight fundamentally altered the way the team approached their business idea.
Through over 50 structured interviews with stakeholders inside and outside their home institution, Curesure identified that the problem their product aimed to solve—oral mucositis—was not seen as an urgent or unmet need by many oncologists. The condition, although painful, was being managed with existing protocols and alternatives, making market entry far more challenging than initially believed. This revelation dismantled the team’s original business premise, but it also opened their eyes to a much broader and more nuanced understanding of cancer care.
The DST-GDC I-NCUBATE program played a transformative role in this journey. It not only shifted the team’s mindset from research-driven development to market-oriented innovation but also motivated them to deepen their understanding of real-world problems in oncology. The program instilled in them the importance of aligning scientific progress with practical, high-impact solutions that meet validated needs—turning research into meaningful, scalable change.
Today, Curesure continues its journey with renewed purpose. They are engaging in deeper secondary research, identifying unmet needs in cancer care, and iterating their approach based on validated insights. The team’s vision is clear: to develop solutions that bring relief to patients, add value to healthcare providers, and contribute meaningfully to the broader medical ecosystem.
Curesure’s journey is a testament to how the GDC I-NCUBATE program empowers early-stage innovators to challenge assumptions, discover clarity, and transition from the lab bench to the real world with greater confidence and impact.
Curesure
