The Crucial Drivers That Large Medical Device Companies Want to See in Medtech Startups

Summary: Uncertainty. It’s the one constant in today’s healthcare environment. And of course, uncertainty causes a multitude of questions to arise. How will the 2.3% medical device tax affect small medical device companies? How long will it take the FDA to issue a 510(k) approval? Are we really looking at $60 million for this PMA? What will the reimbursement picture look like? How much time and money will it cost to comply with the Sunshine Act? Tons of questions, but few concrete answers. With all of these external forces squeezing the medtech industry, we can be certain of one thing. All medical device companies will be forced to step up their game. More diligence, additional scrutiny, etc. And this certainly applies to M&A activity. Large, strategic medical device companies will become even more selective in their pursuit of pre-revenue startups and technologies. So if you’re an early stage medical device startup, how you can best position your company and technology with prospective buyers and/or licensors? Enter Don Urbanowicz, Principal at Urbanowicz Consulting. In this interview, Don will help us discover what medical device buyers are looking for in early stage medtech startups. Here's What You Will Learn - What are the 3 “must haves” that are typically at the top of a prospective buyer’s list of requirements? - Is their room left for the traditional model of incremental product improvements (with minimal clinical data) at higher market prices? - How important is strong medtech IP? - How do prospective medtech buyers review deal opportunities? - What are the 6 steps of a typical transaction proccess. And how long does this usually take? - Will too much risk outweigh the value drivers when a potential acquisition has been identified? - And much more! This Is What You Can Do Next 1) You can listen to the interview with Don Urbanowicz right now: Download audio file (DonUrbanowicz_MedsiderInterviews_2012.mp3) 2) You can also download the mp3 file of the interview by clicking here. Don't forget – you can listen to this interview and all of the other Medsider interviews via iTunes.  And if you get a chance, leave us an honest rating and review. 3) Read the following transcripts from my interview with Don Urbanowicz.  Also, feel free to download the transcripts by clicking here. Read the Interview with Don Urbanowicz Scott Nelson:             Hello, everyone.  It’s Scott Nelson, and welcome to another edition of Medsider, the program where you can learn from med tech and medical device experts on your own terms without having to go to school, and on today’s program we have Don Urbanowicz, who is the founder and principal at Urbanowicz Consulting.  Don has a 30-year track record in the healthcare industry with multinational companies.  He's held various leadership roles spanning general management, global marketing, sales, strategic planning, and business development at companies like Stryker, Smith and Nephew, Sofamor Danek, and Aircast.  So without further ado, welcome to the call, Don.  Really appreciate you coming on. Don Urbanowicz:      Scott, thank you. Scott Nelson:             Alright, so I took a lot of that information from the bio I found online but for those listening, can you provide a little bit more detail into your experience within the med tech arena? Don Urbanowicz:      Sure, Scott.  I think you did a great job, first of all.  The only thing I might add is that I do work primarily with pre-revenue technology-based companies and what I would call microcap companies in providing business growth strategy and transaction advice. Scott ...