FAQs
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Frequently Asked Questions...
01
What is the vision and mission of OWP Pharmaceuticals?
Our vision: At OWP, we envision a world where all people receive the best level of medical and pharmaceutical care regardless of who they are or where they live. Our mission: OWP Pharmaceuticals delivers quality medications that are replicable and fairly priced. Our strategic focus is to support providers and patients in the US with beneficial products and to use the profits to provide resources for those living with neurological disorders in under-resourced areas of the world. We do this by partnering with ROW Global to improve the diagnosis and treatment available to these under-resourced patients and their families. This relationship enables us to better serve the entire world. Thus, our motto: One World. One Standard.
02
How did OWP Pharmaceuticals get started?
OWP Pharmaceuticals was started in 2014 to help alleviate some of the medical and pharmaceutical injustices that exist between people in low- and middle-income countries and wealthier, more economically developed countries. A small group of individuals with significant pharmaceutical and financial experience came together to discuss creative ways to address this issue. From those discussions was conceived a partnership between a for-profit pharmaceutical company and a nonprofit charitable foundation. This unique, cooperative model became the basis for our social enterprise―OWP Pharmaceuticals and ROW Global.
By working together and focusing our efforts on people living in under-resourced areas, OWP Pharmaceuticals and ROW Global can help bring hope, justice, and relief from suffering to millions of patients and their families around the world.
03
What makes OWP Pharmaceuticals different from conventional pharmaceutical companies?
The business model for OWP Pharmaceuticals is very different from conventional pharmaceutical company models. The unique combination of a “for profit” company and “not-for-profit” foundation working together is not designed to solely maximize profits or to be sold to a larger pharmaceutical company or to culminate in a traditional “exit”. It is built to optimize the treatment of epilepsy and other neurological disorders globally through profits generated by OWP, which are used by ROW Global for humanitarian purposes.
Nearly 80% of people with epilepsy live in under-developed regions, with about 75% of them not having access to epilepsy diagnosis and/or treatment. The medical knowledge and medicines already exist to bring hope and a brighter future to millions. Addressing this disparity and injustice through our strategic partnership and intentional action is why we exist. We hope to significantly lift the human potential for the people we impact through the execution of our mission.
04
What is unique about the OWP Pharmaceuticals business model?
OWP Pharmaceuticals enjoys a heartfelt, strategic, and innovative relationship with ROW Global. Together they form a concerted organization with shared goals and values that result in true Pharmaceutical Social Enterprise. OWP uses commercial success for the common good by supporting humanitarian projects rather than solely maximizing profits.
05
How and why does OWP Pharmaceuticals strategically partner with the nonprofit ROW Global?
OWP Pharmaceuticals was founded on drastically different values than most pharmaceutical companies. It is not to solely maximize profits for shareholders, but instead to harness the power and efficiency of socially focused capitalism to make the world a better place. We refer to this as Social Enterprise 2.0. We designed a two-track solution to reach our goals; a market-based company to harness the marketplace and a not-for-profit organization to direct this financial power to needy parts of the world.
ROW Global is not a short-term solution to a long-term problem. OWP Pharmaceuticals is the sustainable, ongoing economic engine that makes possible ROW Global’s programs around the world. Income to the foundation is directly linked to the sales revenues of OWP. As OWP grows, so does the humanitarian work of ROW.
06
What does “Pharmaceutical Social Enterprise” mean?
In most situations, government, foundations, and individual donors are all important funding sources for nonprofits involved with social issues, but none of them can provide the steady, scalable, sustainable financial resources that allow a nonprofit to survive and thrive. The key to the solution is to strategically link the nonprofit philanthropy to the for-profit business in such a way that the nonprofit is legally entitled to a portion of the business’s revenues.
We like to think of it as Social Enterprise 2.0 because it takes traditional social enterprise to a new level. The for-profit business becomes the financial engine that makes possible the programs of the non-profit. As the business thrives, so does the nonprofit. If the for-profit is profitable and scalable it will provide sustainable revenues for the nonprofit to carry out its humanitarian mission. This is the relationship that exists between OWP Pharmaceuticals and ROW Global – a true “Pharmaceutical Social Enterprise.”
It is with this in mind that the Pharmaceutical Social Enterprise business model was born. OWP Pharmaceuticals and ROW Global were built from the ground up with the stated mission of using profits from the pharmaceutical business to fund the foundation’s mission: to improve the quality of training, diagnosis, and treatment available to persons living with epilepsy and associated psychiatric disorders in under-resourced areas of the world. OWP Pharmaceuticals is the financial engine that drives the enterprise, and ROW Global is the vehicle for the humanitarian work. Together they form a Pharmaceutical Social Enterprise® along the lines of the Social Enterprise 2.0 model.
07
What does “One World. One Standard” mean?
Our mantra “One World. One Standard” states our goal. We want to minimize the injustice that exists when persons in wealthy countries like the US have ready access to medical and pharmaceutical care while those in under-resourced areas do not. For example, a disorder like epilepsy can successfully be treated with low-cost generic medications about 70% of the time. But an epilepsy patient living in Africa has only a 10% chance of ever being properly diagnosed and treated―of ever receiving an inexpensive and effective medication.
We believe there is one world and there should be one standard for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and associated psychiatric disorders. Granted, the world is filled with inequity and injustices, and the treatment of epilepsy is just one of them. But it is an inequity we are working to address. We envision a future when life-giving medications and other treatments will be available to all people, at all times, in all places.
08
As a physician’s office, can I receive funding to further diagnosis and treatment?
OWP Pharmaceuticals’ strategic partner, ROW Global, provides funding to nonprofit organizations that carry out epilepsy-related projects. These organizations are chosen for their proven ability to manage successful projects. Working cooperatively benefits all those involved and allows ROW Global to fulfill its charitable purpose in the most effective and efficient way possible.
ROW Global does not consider unsolicited funding proposals. They selectively invite organizations to submit project proposals, and if they are interested in working together, they will first establish an organizational relationship.
Send an initial email to ROW Global Administrator, Dr. Paul Regan, via the ROW Global website (www.rowglobal.org). Introduce yourself and your organization and let him know what you are doing to address a need in under-served areas. Tell him a little about your plans for the future. Include any brochures and materials that describe your organization.
He will acknowledge your email and add you to the ROW Global database. If there are compatible purposes and objectives, ROW Global will request additional information to gain a deeper understanding of your organizational goals and objectives. Once evaluated, ROW Global may request a formal funding proposal.
