What does it take to bring medical innovation to market?
NEOvations Bench to Bedside recently welcomed Project Medtech to campus for an engaging event titled Fundraising 101 and Healthcare Economics. The session brought together students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners to explore key considerations in translating medical innovation from concept to commercialization. Project Medtech is a leading organization in the Northeast Ohio medical innovation space, with a strong track record in investing, consulting, networking, hosting educational events and producing a podcast focused on advancing medical technology.
The event featured Duane Mancini, M.Sc., chief executive officer, and Rich Mazzola, chief financial officer, who provided attendees with an in-depth look at two essential components of building successful medical technology ventures: fundraising strategy and healthcare economics.
During the healthcare economics and reimbursement portion of the program, attendees learned why reimbursement should be considered early and in parallel with product development rather than as a final step. The speakers emphasized the need for medical innovations to demonstrate both clinical value and economic value. Topics included evidence generation, coding, coverage and payment, as well as how hospitals and payers evaluate new technologies. Participants were introduced to real world considerations such as value analysis committees, payer decision making and the importance of clearly articulating return on investment and budget impact within today’s healthcare environment.
The fundraising presentation focused on navigating the medtech funding landscape, outlining differences between nondilutive funding such as grants and pitch competitions and dilutive funding such as angel and venture capital investment. Mancini and Mazzola discussed how fundraising evolves across stages of company growth, from early proof of concept through later stage commercialization. They also highlighted investor expectations, common deal structures, milestone driven fundraising and long-term exit considerations for medical technology startups.
The event also virtually welcomed participants from NEOvations Bench to Bedside’s partner program at the University of Hawaii, reinforcing the collaborative and cross institutional nature of the program.
This event was made possible through the collaboration of the NEOMED REDIZone and NEOvations Bench to Bedside. NEOvations Bench to Bedside is supported and funded by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and the NEOMED Foundation, whose continued support enables educational programming that equips medical innovators with the tools and knowledge needed to bring impactful ideas to life.
Many NEOvations Bench to Bedside educational sessions, including guest presentations like this one, are recorded and made available for those who are unable to attend live or who wish to revisit the material.
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- submitted by Mitchell Bailey, M2