CIMIT Innovation Grand Rounds:
The New Playbook for Healthcare Innovation

4.14.2009 SPEAKER: Zen Chu, MBA: Founder, AcMedX Accelerated Medical Ventures MODERATOR: Michael Greeley, MBA: General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners PANEL MEMBERS: - Elazer Edelman, MD, PhD: MIT, HMS - Joseph Smith, MD, PhD: VP, Johnson & Johnson -Marsha Moses, PhD: CHB, HMS Watch panel video.

Forum Summary

The leaders of a fledgling biomedical company must understand where their products lie in the innovation landscape if the company is to be successful.  The position of an opportunity in the innovation landscape depends on the cost of pursuing the opportunity and on the potential profitability.  Venture capitalists prefer to invest in companies with low start-up costs and potentially large returns whereas large corporations may be willing to take on projects that require more capital in the beginning.

The value of an innovation increases as the concept is developed and brought closer to marketability, so speeding up the developmental process is important to investors.  Although doctors with ties to the biomedical industry must be careful to avoid potential conflicts of interest, physicians often play a critical role in translating ideas from pre-clinical to clinical stages.

Building a successful biomedical company is an exercise in controlling risk.  The biggest risks for a new company are long-term risks involving regulatory approval and marketability.  In order to manage these risks, successful companies often plan in reverse.  Invention is the spark that launches a company, but product development is what drives clinical change.  In these difficult economic times, companies seeking to find a place in the biomedical industry cannot afford to neglect long-term planning.    

 

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