Maria Shepherd , Data Decision Group02.18.15
Industry advocacy and trade groups are important resources for companies of all sizes, especially the highly regulated medical technology industry. In New England, medical device companies should count the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council, more commonly called MassMEDIC, among their biggest assets and resources. Three well-established orthopedic companies in Massachusetts are Smith & Nephew plc, ConforMIS Inc., and OMNILife Science Inc.
Nowhere is the group’s reach and influence more evident than during its annual MedTech Showcase, most recently held in November in Boston, Mass. During the event, startup companies present their technologies to association members and potential investors. The meeting, which has been held annually for a number of years, draws more than 400 attendees from the sector’s financing, consulting and manufacturing sectors. More than 260 innovative technology ideas have been presented at the conference over the years, with many finding funding or acquisition opportunities at the event. The presenting companies are a mix of local firms and companies from outside New England. Boston, however, clearly knows medtech. Massachusetts is home to the second-largest cluster of medical device companies in the United States, with 80,000 workers, annual exports that account for 14 percent of all goods shipped from the commonwealth and an economic impact in Massachusetts of more than $8.5 billion.1
Why It’s Important
MassMEDIC places special emphasis on providing services to early-stage medical device companies, which are the engine of future growth and innovation in this industry. Before the presenting companies at the MassMEDIC event began their pitches, Neil Oberoi, managing director of healthcare investment banking for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, discussed the growth of the 2014 medtech initial public offering market and the current criteria he feels is necessary for a medical device startup to go public.
According to Oberoi, the magic mix of factors necessary before a company should consider going public includes having a $25 million to $50 million sales run rate; a differentiated product; an attractive market; a great management team; and a track toward profitability.
Best Presentations
The companies presenting at the showcase last fall had compelling value propositions. Among the notable presentations was information from these interesting startups:
The medtech startup industry is beginning to see a positive trend in funding once again, a subject that has been one of the greatest obstacles to medtech growth for the past few years. Is it time to pursue the great idea you have been thinking about for a medical device?
References
Maria Shepherd has 20 years of leadership experience in medical device/life-science marketing in small startups and top-tier companies. Following a career including roles as vice president of marketing for Oridion Medical (a company acquired by Covidien, which is now Medtronic), director of marketing for Philips Medical and senior management roles at Boston Scientific Inc., she founded Data Decision Group. Shepherd recently was appointed to the board of the ALIGO Healthcare Investment Committee. She can be reached at (617) 548-9892, mshepherd@ddecisiongroup.com, www.ddecisiongroup.com, or followed on Twitter @MedTechResearch.
Nowhere is the group’s reach and influence more evident than during its annual MedTech Showcase, most recently held in November in Boston, Mass. During the event, startup companies present their technologies to association members and potential investors. The meeting, which has been held annually for a number of years, draws more than 400 attendees from the sector’s financing, consulting and manufacturing sectors. More than 260 innovative technology ideas have been presented at the conference over the years, with many finding funding or acquisition opportunities at the event. The presenting companies are a mix of local firms and companies from outside New England. Boston, however, clearly knows medtech. Massachusetts is home to the second-largest cluster of medical device companies in the United States, with 80,000 workers, annual exports that account for 14 percent of all goods shipped from the commonwealth and an economic impact in Massachusetts of more than $8.5 billion.1
Why It’s Important
MassMEDIC places special emphasis on providing services to early-stage medical device companies, which are the engine of future growth and innovation in this industry. Before the presenting companies at the MassMEDIC event began their pitches, Neil Oberoi, managing director of healthcare investment banking for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, discussed the growth of the 2014 medtech initial public offering market and the current criteria he feels is necessary for a medical device startup to go public.
According to Oberoi, the magic mix of factors necessary before a company should consider going public includes having a $25 million to $50 million sales run rate; a differentiated product; an attractive market; a great management team; and a track toward profitability.
Best Presentations
The companies presenting at the showcase last fall had compelling value propositions. Among the notable presentations was information from these interesting startups:
- Intrinsic Therapeutics Inc., based in Woburn, Mass., presented its Barricaid device for discectomy patients that are at high risk of re-herniation. Cary Hagan, president and CEO, presented data that the overall risk of recurrent disc herniation varies between 2-18 percent in reported literature (see Chart 1).2,3 The company is banking on the fact that there is strong evidence that the re-herniation rate is influenced by the size of the defect in the annulus. The data suggest that patients with small defects in the annulus have as low as 1 percent risk of recurrence while those with larger defects have between 18-27 percent risk.4,5
- Kinematix Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., presented the OrthoMonitor, an intelligent, wearable device that extracts knowledge from movement and posture to improve human function. The device uses firmware and software analytics to measure and wirelessly report data in real time. It can be integrated into orthotics and prosthetics to measure wear-time compliance and provide data to inform patient treatment. There are nearly 2 million patients in the United States with limb loss.7 The causes are outlined in Chart 2. The main causes of limb loss are vascular disease (54 percent, including diabetes), trauma (45 percent) and cancer (approximately 2 percent).
- ChemGreen Innovations Inc., a Canadian company developing novel polymers, with two strategic partnerships already in development in the antimicrobial and conductive sectors (for use in a pressure monitoring device). The firm’s technology has applications in antimicrobial plastics (catheters, etc.), antimicrobial sensors, and drug-delivery polymers. According to ChemGreen, its manufacturing technology is cost-effective (low solvent use, reduced waste) and does not release volatile organic compounds into the air. Nauman Farooqi, Ph.D., president and CEO, presented the technology, which he said was part of a rapidly growing market, as presented in Chart 3.
The medtech startup industry is beginning to see a positive trend in funding once again, a subject that has been one of the greatest obstacles to medtech growth for the past few years. Is it time to pursue the great idea you have been thinking about for a medical device?
References
- www.massmedic.com
- Atlas, S, et al: Long-Term Outcomes of Surgical and Nonsurgical Management of Sciatica Secondary to a Lumbar Disc Herniation: 10 Year Results from the Maine Lumbar Spine Study. Spine 2005: 30(8): 927-935.
- Watters WC and McGirt MJ. An Evidence-Based Review of the Literature on the Consequences of Conservative Versus Aggressive Discectomy for the Treatment of Primary Disc Herniation with Radiculopathy. The Spine Journal 9: 240-57. 2009.
- Carragee, E, et al. Clinical Outcomes After Lumbar Discectomy for Sciatica: The Effects of Fragment Type and Anular Competence. JBJS: 85-A (1): 102-108. 2003.
- McGirt MJ et al. A Prospective Cohort Study of Close Interval Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging After Primary Lumbar Discectomy: Factors Associated With Recurrent Disc Herniation and Disc Height Loss. Spine 34: 2044-51. 2009.
- Ibid.
- www.amputee-coalition.org/limb-loss-resource-center/resources-by-topic/limb-loss-statistics/limb-loss-statistics/
Maria Shepherd has 20 years of leadership experience in medical device/life-science marketing in small startups and top-tier companies. Following a career including roles as vice president of marketing for Oridion Medical (a company acquired by Covidien, which is now Medtronic), director of marketing for Philips Medical and senior management roles at Boston Scientific Inc., she founded Data Decision Group. Shepherd recently was appointed to the board of the ALIGO Healthcare Investment Committee. She can be reached at (617) 548-9892, mshepherd@ddecisiongroup.com, www.ddecisiongroup.com, or followed on Twitter @MedTechResearch.