Mesynthes staying focused on going global

We’ve targeted the United States market which is attractive partly because it’s big, but also because it has a single regulatory system, unlike the European Union where things get complex very quickly.

A lot of medical technologies, including ours, are developed in response to an obvious clinical need.

From my experience as a veterinarian and through working in healthcare companies around the world, I could see the growing potential for products that accelerate tissue regeneration.

I coordinated and developed research on the benefits of a framework known as extracellular matrix. At the same time, I wrote a business plan and started pitching to investors.

To get started as a real business, Mesynthes was always going to require external investment as there was at least 18 months between establishing the company and launching our first product.

This presented a major challenge as angel and venture funding is hard to secure in New Zealand. To succeed in raising funds, you need a strong proposition which can withstand rigorous evaluation.

After six months, we signed up three groups of investors which supported Mesynthes because it was a relatively simple idea that was achievable with modest amounts of capital and there was clearly a strong global opportunity.

Finding US-based partners has been important from the outset. Our approach was to produce prototypes early on and put them in front of potential partners.

It’s a way of having a conversation with people who know a lot more than you and increase your understanding of market nuances.

They sometimes point out opportunities or problems you hadn’t seen and you can then quickly modify and refine your next iteration. We also targeted partners with strong sales and marketing capability.

Attending industry events has been our single most successful strategy for getting to know the right people. There are regular medical meetings in the US that attract wound care clinicians and their suppliers.

It’s not cheap to get there but it pays off. Ring someone up and they aren’t going to take you as seriously as when they’ve met you in person three or four times.

The actual meeting itself is the quickest part of the process! Most of the work is preparation and follow up.

Before leaving, we do lots of background research to understand how we could be valuable to prospective partners, decide who we want to see and set up appointments.