Next Phase Newsletter

By Lucy Parkinson, VP of Investor Research, LSN

There’s a widespread perception that funding and launching new diagnostic technologies is a difficult undertaking.  In addition to the scientific and technical challenges of developing a new product, diagnostic entrepreneurs need to build a solid business case that will indicate future success.  Many fail to realize that investors will be as interested in evidence of market traction and physician support than in signals of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.

At RESI Europe, five experienced senior staff from investment firms and major strategics in the industry will explain how they look for good bets in the diagnostics field.  Representing a spectrum from early stage investment to potential exit partner, these investors will explain to the audience what it takes to get a diagnostic funded and how they help startups bring new tests and monitoring solutions to market.

Moderator: Tom Miller (Managing Partner, Greybird Ventures)

After receiving a degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Tom studied Medical Physics at the Harvard/MIT Health Sciences and Technology joint program graduating with a Masters degree in 1982. During his academic career he worked at Los Alamos, the Swiss Institute for Nuclear Research (now the Paul Scherer Institute), Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Massachusetts General Hospital as a research associate in radiation biophysics. Tom then joined Siemens Medical Systems where, after 9 years, he became the first non-German CEO of a German factory and business unit. He left Siemens after 15 years to become CEO of the global medical operations of Carl Zeiss. Completing a successful turnaround, he joined Analogic Corporation as CEO. After three years and a doubling of the stock price, Tom left to become CEO of LightLab Imaging, a start-up that he helped to establish. Completing a profitable sale of LightLab, Tom re-joined Siemens eventually serving as a member of the operating board of Siemens Healthcare and the CEO of Customer Solutions Division, responsible for 26,000 employees in over 130 countries. Tom co-founded GreyBird in mid-2013 with an investment focus on technologies enabling precision medicine diagnosis.

Walter Stockinger (Managing Partner, Hadean Ventures)

Walter is a seasoned healthcare investor with previous experience in strategy consulting and basic research. After joining the Boston Consulting Group as a member of the Healthcare Practice Team Walter advised pharmaceutical companies and PE firms in the context of commercial projects as well as during buy and sell side M&A transactions. In 2009 walter joined the London office of one of the largest specialist healthcare VC firms. Being responsible for deal sourcing, due diligence and exit management Walter gained significant experience by successfully investing into and exiting portfolio companies.

Walter received a master’s degree and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Vienna. After his graduation, he worked for over five years as a research fellow at Harvard University. He has published 15 peer reviewed papers in top scientific journals including Cell and EMBO.

Michael Sidler (General Partner, Redalpine)

Dr. Michael Sidler has co-founded Redalpine Venture Partners 2007 and acts as General Partner for Redalpine Capital Funds I to IV. Redalpine invests in European tech and health tech companies. Before Redalpine, Michael was responsible for corporate investments and M&A at Prionics AG, a Diagnostics / Biotech company in, Switzerland, where under his guidance several acquisitions have been completed. From 1998 to 2003, Michael was with The Boston Consulting Group in Zürich and Toronto. Michael Sidler holds a PhD in Life Sciences from University of Zurich. He is a member of several organizations, juries and boards for the support of innovation and startups.

Ekkehard Kauffmann (Global Business Development M&A, Roche Diagnostics)

M&A and Strategy lead in Roche Diagnostic Global Business Development, responsible for external growth strategies as well as evaluating and securing early to commercial stage innovation for Roche Diagnostics through acquisitions and other deal types. Previous leadership roles in business development and R&D at Bayer and in the Novartis spin-off company Zeptosens. Ph.D. in Biophysics and executive MBA education background.

By Karen Deyo, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

LSN first introduced the Innovators’ Pitch Challenge at RESI Boston in September of 2018. This new aspect of RESI was designed to give the earliest stage companies spinning out from incubators, accelerators and universities a platform to pitch to a panel of investors.  The aim of the RESI Innovators’ Pitch Challenge was to give these companies a chance to practice their investment pitch and get valuable feedback from real investors. To get a perspective on the value of participating in the Innovators’ Pitch Challenge, I spoke to Scott Stout, CEO of MedVector Clinical Trials (one of the companies selected to participate in the West Coast Innovators’ Pitch Challenge at RESI San Francisco), and Ravi Mistry, an angel investor part of TiE Silicon Valley Angels, who was part of the investor panel at the same event.

Especially for those earliest stage companies just starting their first major fundraise, the ability to practice your pitch before a panel of investors can be helpful. The questions asked by the experienced investor panelists can help the participants anticipate what investors will ask when pitching to them, as well as helping you identify what areas of your pitch may need to be clarified. As an angel investor and very active mentor for entrepreneurs, Ravi pointed out how valuable an exercise this can be, both as a way to potentially catch the interest of the investor panelists, as well as a practice for the future. Ravi also noted that the diverse range of expertise the investors had, across all sectors of the life sciences, can be helpful to the exercise.

Beyond the value of practicing his pitch, Scott said that one of the major benefits of applying to and participating in the Pitch Challenge was the additional exposure he received via RESI’s website and on-site guide, and the ability to highlight to current and potential investors that their company was selected to participate by LSN’s scientific review team. This serves as valuable external validation of the company and technology.

To apply for the European Innovators’ Pitch Challenge, please fill out the application and make sure to indicate that you are a tech hub constituent!

Accelerating clinical trials speeds up medicine. MedVector is a turnkey solution using telemedicine to increase clinical trial participation, generate revenue for hospitals, reduce costs to clinical trial sponsors, and bring life-saving, advanced medicine to market more quickly.

Ravi Mistry, Member, TiE Angels

Ravi Mistry is a leader, entrepreneur, angel investor, educator and mentor. His professional career has spanned the life sciences, technology, non-profits, and academics as Founder, Board Chairman/Director, President, Vice President, Sr. Director, Manager, and Adjunct Professor. He brings experience covering all areas of business operations. He has managed closing of Seed, Series A/B funding totaling over $35M. Ravi served as VP/BizDev at MedTree, a life sciences start-up, and as Executive Director of Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar Foundation to raise endowment funds. Previously, Ravi was member of founding team of Virident Systems, a technology startup acquired by HGST/Western Digital. Ravi has held management positions in the life sciences companies DiscoveRx (acquired by Eurobond) and BioImagene (acquired by Roche). He is Gold Medalist from Gujarat University, India, with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering. He received his Master’s in Engineering from Stanford, and an MBA in Finance from CSUEB.

By Jessica Yang, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

Life Science Nation invites all early stage life science/healthcare companies to apply to the RESI Europe Innovation Challenge to showcase their technologies at our upcoming RESI partnering event in Vienna! Companies can apply to the Innovation Challenge free of charge. Once the applications close (the deadline is February 20^th!), the LSN scientific review team selects the top 30 to compete. Innovation Challenge Finalists present a poster in the exhibition hall during RESI, as well as receiving additional exposure in the printed program guide and the LSN newsletter. All attendees receive ‘RESI cash’ which they can ‘invest’ in their favorite companies – the top three companies will receive prizes during the cocktail hour and will be announced to LSN’s worldwide following!

Here are some features of Innovation Challenge:

• Finalists will be highlighted in multiple media outlets:
  • Announcement in weekly LSN Newsletter with readership of 20,000+
  • Featured on RESI Conference website
  • Featured in printed and online RESI Vienna program guide
• Finalists will present a poster of their technology at the conference
• All conference attendees will have the chance to “invest” RESI Cash in their favorite technologies
• Top 3 winners will be announced during the cocktail reception and receive prizes/ RESI tickets to future RESI Conferences
• It is FREE to apply!

Companies can apply through the online portal, with supplementary materials sent to RESI@lifesciencenation.com. The submission deadline is February 20^th, 2019.

Also check out to see how to be successful in the RESI Innovation Challenge: https://blog.lifesciencenation.com/2018/09/20/how-to-be-successful-in-the-resi-innovation-challenge/

Here is a testimonial from the 1^st place in the Innovation Challenge at last RESI Conference: https://blog.lifesciencenation.com/2019/01/31/interview-with-novotalk-1st-place-in-the-innovation-challenge/

The inaugural RESI Europe conference will occur in Vienna on March 25^th at the Vienna Marriott Hotel, and we are excited to receive your Innovation Challenge application!

By Karen Deyo, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

With RESI SF behind us, we are looking forward to LSN’s first RESI in Europe. Taking place in Vienna, the inaugural RESI Europe will occur on March 25^th at the Vienna Marriott Hotel. The application portal is now open for the RESI Europe Innovation Challenge.  For RESI San Francisco, LSN received over a hundred applications from startups featuring their new technologies, and we are excited to review your applications for RESI Europe.

Companies can apply through the online portal, with supplementary materials sent to RESI@lifesciencenation.com. The submission deadline is February 20^th, 2019.

We will select the top 30 companies as finalists, giving them the opportunity to display a poster featuring their technology in the exhibit hall for the entire day. This will provide these companies with added exposure to the investor attendees. The Innovation Challenge is open to all early-stage companies, whether in therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices or digital health.

In addition, we will feature 8 of the earliest-stage companies from regional tech hubs, incubators or accelerators in our Pitch Challenge. These companies will pitch in front of a panel of investors, giving them an opportunity to showcase their technology and gain feedback.

We look forward to receiving your application, and we hope to see you at RESI Europe!

By Nono Hu, Director of Marketing, LSN

RESI JPM 2019 was the biggest Redefining Early Stage Investments event yet. In a highly competitive RESI Innovation Challenge we saw novel technologies represented from the therapeutics, medtech, diagnostics, and digital health verticals – we know it was tough for RESI attendees to choose how to allocate their 5 RESI “investment” tokens! We wish all our finalists the best in bringing their products forward toward commercialization, but there could only be 3 top prize winners.

First Place: Novotalk

Novotalk provides an end-to-end digital therapy for people with speech disorders. It’s an online, on-demand (asynchronous), self-directed speech tele-therapy solution, which allows those with speech impairments to learn, practice, gain, and maintain comprehensible speech remotely, independently, and discretely. The user goes through therapy with a virtual clinician, together with algorithms that detect pre-defined speech patterns and provide feedback in real-time. The “real” clinician is a data-empowered supervisor to the process. We make therapy accessible, by removing the 2 main barriers to therapy; clinician availability and affordability. Novotalk’s first solution addresses stuttering, a condition which affects 370m people globally.

Jonathan Oron,VP R&D, Novotalk | Lilach Shvimer-Rothschild, Co-founder & COO, Novotalk | Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation | Zohar Beeri, CEO, Novotalk | Karen Deyo, Investor Research Analyst, Life Science Nation

Second Place: Heroic-Faith Medical Science

Established in June 2018, Heroic-Faith Medical Science Corp., LTD. is focused on the development of medical devices for the critical care medicine. The total annual spending on ICU care in North America in 2018 reaches $108 billion USD, being second only to cancer care which totals $158 billion USD, making it a key market that is marked by costly spending, as well as one that is open to new ideas. We hope to combine Taiwan’s advanced medical expertise with its cutting-edge electronics capabilities to develop break-through products, so that we can realize the ideal of our CEO, “Saving lives through innovation”, in the global market.

Fushun Hsu, CEO, Heroic-Faith Medical Science | Yuan-Ren Cheng, COO, Heroic-Faith Medical Science | Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation | Lucy Parkinson, VP of Investor Research, Life Science Nation

Third Place: MedTrace A/S

MedTrace is a development-stage company innovating PET diagnostic imaging with an end-to-end solution for a best-in-class blood flow tracer geared for better outcomes, attractive economics and high-patient throughput.

• PET scans are the most sensitive and precise diagnostic tools available in medical imaging.

• There is a significant unmet need in cardiology for improved diagnostic images to guide invasive and non-invasive treatment.

• One of the fundamental challenges in PET cardiology diagnostics is the global scarcity of tracers.

• MedTrace has developed a solution that enables the practical incorporation of the gold-standard radiotracer, 15O-water, for PET cardiology imaging.

• MedTrace’s beachhead will be in the inefficiently-served Myocardial Ischemia market.

Rune Wiik Kristensen, COO, MedTrace | Martin Stenfeldt, CEO, MedTrace | Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation | Lucy Parkinson, VP of Investor Research, Life Science Nation

By Claire Jeong, Senior Research Analyst, LSN

There are several important dates related to RESI San Francisco 2019 this week. With yesterday’s RESI partnering system launch, there is no doubt that our largest event of the year is closely approaching. Another date to keep in mind is tomorrow, Friday, December 7^th, as Friday is the last date we are accepting applications for the RESI SF Innovation Challenge.

As usual, we will be selecting 30 finalists who are working on innovative technologies with high potential to scale in global markets. The Innovation Challenge is open to all early-stage companies in the therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health sectors who are actively fundraising. We will also be selecting several tech hub constituents to participate in the West Coast Innovators’ Pitch Challenge from 1:00 – 2:30 pm, where companies will be able to pitch in front of a panel of established investor judges and receive constructive feedback.

We encourage all applicants to read our article on how to be successful in the RESI Innovation Challenge. There is not much time left to apply – interested applicants, please complete your online application through our application portal here or submit your PDF application and supplementary materials by sending them to RESI@lifesciencenation.com. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

By Claire Jeong, Senior Research Analyst, LSN

After finishing off another successful RESI event in New York City just last week, the LSN team is excitedly preparing for RESI San Francisco during JPM week on Tuesday, January 8^th, 2019, our largest event of the year! We are now accepting applications for the RESI SF 2019 Innovation Challenge through our online portal, and companies can also submit a completed PDF application and supplementary materials to RESI@lifesciencenation.com. Our deadline is Friday, December 7^th, 2018.

As usual, we will select 30 finalists from a pool of over 100 applicants across the globe and provide these finalists with the opportunity to present a posterboard showcasing their technologies at our exhibition hall for the entire day. The Innovation Challenge is open to early-stage companies in all sectors, from therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

Since RESI Boston in September 2018, we have been working with many regional tech hubs to bring the earliest stage technologies in front of our global network of investors. We will be selecting several companies to participate in the West Coast Innovators’ Pitch Challenge, to pitch in front of a panel of investor judges.

Last week, we announced the Top 3 Winners of the RESI NYC 2018 Innovation Challenge and showcased a wide range of innovative technologies (complete list can be found here). We look forward to receiving your applications for RESI SF 2019!