The Canadian medtech market appears to be punching below its weight but new patent fillings and start-ups suggest a positive outlook.
A distinguished panel discussed what it takes to go from start-up to the first $50M in the Canadian Medical Device industry at the Commercialization Playbook event.
“Opportunity for Canada in this space is huge in growing role of medical technologies”; says Dr. Brian Courtney
MaRS Discovery District
The MaRS Centre could not have provided a more apt setting for this important event that helps foster a culture to launch new medical innovations.
Canada imports substantially more medical device technologies that it exports. The number of patent filings are a good indication that Canada is “poised for growth”.
Here Scott Phillips, CEO & Founder of Starfish Medical reflects on what the events helped achieved.
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Commercialization Playbook
In his session John Walmsley reinforced five key principles for managing medtech innovation:
- Reimbursement
- Regulatory Guidance
- Technology Performance
- The Human Factor
- Design for Manufacture
Several speakers highlighted the importance of truly understanding the role of the Economic Buyer and “importance of customer discovery” including KOLs [key opinion leader development] being absolutely essential. I was pleased to hear reference to improved patient QoL and improved measurable outcomes, with a great example presented by Ben Wagner.
Canadian Medical Device Trends
Dr. Brian Courtney very articulately highlighted the “Very little local experience investing in medical devices” with a “Need for more talent in commercialization phase in Canada”.
Scott Phillips finished looking at the financial, regulatory and intellectual property medical device trends pertinent to Canada. One example report is the PwC Life Sciences Moneytree.
“Medical is hard”, says Joel Weinstein
Speakers also gave insights into distribution channels, preparing for FDA audits, pitching to investors and organizing your exit.
Congratulations and thanks to Starfish Medical, the panel of excellent speakers and sponsors Emergo, Medisacare & MEDEC for providing such a valuable Commercialization Playbook event at the the wonderful MaRS Centre. You can look back at the Twitter posts from the event by searching @opencityinc @MaRDD and #medtech
The Playbook event moves on to Vancouver on March 31, which we understand is unfortunately sold out.
Hacking Health
The audience included several members of the Hacking Health community, which brings together health professionals, technologists and start-ups. I will be presenting core messages from the Health Outcome Models white paper at the Hacking Health Waterloo café in March.
DOWNLOAD THE HEALTH OUTCOME MODELS WHITE PAPER