After a viral infection, the symptoms can resemble a bacterial infection. This is why it is so hard for people to recover after taking antibiotics, which only work against bacteria, not viruses. EZC Pak was invented by Sarath Malepati to treat both diseases at once, eliminating the confusion. He pitched his product on Shark Tank and landed a deal with Kevin O’Leary. EZC Pak is valued at $4 million by 2024.
Founder
Dr. Sarath Malepati is a physician in Lomita Avenue, Calif. He received his medical education at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Malepati interned for a year at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai before completing his residency at San Joaquin General Hospital. Salas practiced general surgery for the next two decades.
In the second half of his career, he focused on caring for patients with viral and bacterial infections. Currently, the California-based physician is the Medical Director of PPC Group.
Founded EZC Pak
Sarath found that doctors were overusing and overprescribing antibiotics. People took these drugs when they had a cough, runny nose, sore throat or similar symptoms.
However, antibiotics only treat bacteria, while these symptoms can also be caused by viruses. Unnecessary antibiotic exposure can cause normal bacteria in the intestine to overgrow and cause serious problems. The general surgeon was keen to take steps to address this problem.
He researched and developed EZC Pak, a supplement that fights bacteria and viruses by boosting the immune system. The five-day immune support pack hit the market in 2019.
Shark Tank Appearance
A year after launching, Dr. Sarath Malepati needed help promoting the product. He appeared on Season 11 of Shark Tank seeking $125,000 for a 5% stake.
The doctor started off well, but things started to sour when Mark Cuban disagreed with some of his medical claims. During the pitch, Lori Greiner became annoyed because she felt ignored and made some harsh remarks. Ironically, as Lori was explaining herself, the other Sharks interrupted her.
Despite Malepati’s faltering sales pitch, Kevin O’Leary made him an offer, and after some negotiation the two agreed to pay $125,000 for a 5% stake and $1 in royalties on each unit sold until sales reached $450,000.
After Shark Tank
Shortly after the show aired, the pandemic hit and became a huge driver of sales. Most Shark Tank companies struggled during this time, but EZC Pak thrived. The deal was never done with Kevin O’Leary because Sarath most likely didn’t like the royalty aspect of the deal. Royalties would have consumed too much capital.
According to Benzinga.com, online sales have increased by 850%, which has helped the company create new variations of its products. They are now available at Walmart, CVS, Market Basket, Davidson Drugs, Amazon, HyVee and EZCPak.com.
Their original product was a huge success on Amazon, with a 4.6-star rating from 2,156 customer reviews. EZC Pak is thriving, with annual revenues expected to be around $2-3 million, with net profits of less than $500,000. EZC Pak is currently valued at $4 million.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: dut.edu.vn
