Justin Marsh
Arthur Andrew Medical
Title: Founder and CEO
Est: 1999 | www.arthurandrew.com
Justin Marsh, co-founder and CEO of Arthur Andrew Medical, is shining a light on an unconventional approach to improving health. But it all started far from the world of medicine.
Marsh left college with an electronics engineering degree and began his career working as a subcontractor for Motorola, Intel and AMD, developing and installing software.
“Ultimately, it wasn’t my education that allowed me to get into my current industry, it was more by chance and some key contacts that pointed me in this direction,” Marsh says.
Marsh switched careers when he joined the medical field as an investor, eventually buying out all of his partners to become the CEO of Arthur Andrew Medical. The company’s name derives from the middle names of the two founders, Thomas Arthur Aldrich and Justin Andrew Marsh.
The Scottsdale-based company began in 1999 as an international broker and distributor of enzymes and probiotics. To launch the line, Marsh took out a portion of equity from his house and relied on revolving credit. In 2003, Arthur Andrew Medical had a breakthrough when it found enzymes in Japan that it claimed surpassed any available in North America. Enzymes — along with several other benefits — convert our food to energy, eliminate viruses, and purify our blood. When they are formulated with materials found in nature, their beneficial uses can increase. These formulations are known as nutraceuticals or dietary supplements.
Arthur Andrew Medical teamed up with specialized doctors to formulate these enzymes and create nutraceuticals as a natural and alternative way to heal and help patients. The company’s line now consists of seven products that perform several different functions.
The business originally began with the intent of selling only to health care professionals. But Marsh says that as customers wanted more availability of the product, the company decided to open up the line to distribution across the U.S., and one day it plans to expand internationally.
The company has a staff of 10 and a sales force that includes more than 20 contractors and distributors. Besides the office in Scottsdale, Arthur Andrew Medical has a satellite office in San Diego. With four competitors worldwide, including three right here in Arizona, the company must work hard to earn consumers’ trust. One challenge the company struggles with is creative marketing.
“We are not permitted to say that we can diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without first spending millions of dollars on FDA approval,” Marsh says, adding that as a result, the company relies on patient and doctor referrals.
With a claimed 70 percent rate of returning customers, this hurdle hasn’t stopped Arthur Andrew Medical from achieving success.
“Unlike pharmaceuticals, our products are effective without any concern of becoming habit-forming or causing damaging side effects,” Marsh says. “We have had success with patients that were considered untreatable with conventional methods.”
Marsh says his main goal is for people to know that, depending on the product, the FDA does not always have the final say.He adds there are options that can help when conventional medicine can’t.
“We approach medicine in an entirely different manner,” Marsh says. “We know our products work and we know there are no risks.”
Today, despite the poor economy, the company continues to grow. Marsh says Arthur Andrew Medical is on track to exceed its growth expectations for this year, with record-breaking sales logged in March.
“It seems the public eye is beginning to see the value of nutraceuticals as the cost of maintaining good health is much less expensive than recovering from poor health,” Marsh says.
