MAGAZINE

The MedtechGatewayto Europe

The diamonds of the strong growth Norwegian medtech sector areentering the US health care market. Turn page and read more!

CHECKOUTTHE NEWNORWEGIANTEST FACILITY

BUILDINGA CYBERHOSPITAL

2 OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.osl

om

ed

tech

.no

SHARING: In the Medtech Growth House there areso far 10 Norwegian companies exploiting syner-gies, sharing services and working efficiently. Theconcept is developed by Oslo Medtech in coopera-tion with Oslo Innovation Center, and providessmall startups with professional and service ori-ented environment and expertise.

Medtech Growth House encourages new cooper-ation and innovation projects, by stimulating thecompanies in the growth house are to help eachother out, working together on common issuesand share resources and network and cooperatewith R&D.

BENEFITS: Themedtech companies inthe Growth Housework effectively and -above all – they haveenjoyable days. TheMedtech GrowthHouse is located veryclose to Oslo Uni-versity Hospital andthe InterventionCentre, the UniversityofOslo and only 250meters from DNVNemko Presafe, theMedtech audit body inNorway. Both short

and long term contracts are offered. The com-panies experience great benefits from sittingclosely to others working in the same field. On aregular basis there are a.o. seminars with highprofiled industry leaders and lunch meetingswhere companies present their business and whatis most important to them as they speak.

Medtech companies in the Growth House parti-cipate together with Oslo Medtech at the AnnualMedTech Investing Conference in Minneapolis. Atthe conferences, they get the advantage of thenetwork Oslo Medtech has built up in the UnitedStates. It is of great value to companies to meetpotential partners. Conference participants haveknowledge of recognition and access to the U.S.market, so they can improve and tailormakeproduct development and documentation.

TESTING FACILITIES: Oslo Medtech is a rapidlygrowing national cluster, supporting and nour-ishing the business development of superior med-ical research, stimulating the development of acompetitive Norwegian Medtech and eHealth in-dustry.

Oslo Medtech offers a gateway to Europe for in-ternational startups by offering facilities for test-ing, verifications and clinical trials ofMedtech andeHealth products, solutions and methods. Housingfacilities are offered to international and Norwegi-an medtech companies in the Medtech GrowthHouse, located in Oslo Innovation Center.

AHOUSE FORGROWTHPICTURE

Above: The Oslo Medtech Growth House in idyllic Gaustad River Valley.

OS

LOB

US

INE

SS

ME

MO

Do you want todo business inEurope?Welcome toMedtechGrowth House,Oslo, Norway.

Oslo Medtech Services:* Facilitate cooperation between research,health sector and industry* Stimulate and facilitate market driveninnovation processes and developmentprojects* Facilitate clinical trials and testing* Help the companies professionalize anddevelop internationally oriented businessplans and strategies* Enhance the knowledge of Internationalmarkets and help companies to reach theglobal market* Attract development and investment capital

Interested to learn more about Oslo Medtechand Medtech Growth House?Visit www.oslomedtech.no

EDITOR'S LETTER

A MAGAZINE PRODUCED BY

Editor-in-chief:Kathrine Myhre

CEO Oslo Medtech+47 93 0 69 63 4kathrine.myhre@oslomedtech.no

*

Cecil ie NordbøMarketing Communications

Manager+47 93 0 3 1 593cecil ie.nordbo@oslomedtech.no

*

Tone YrvumInnovation Project Manager

+ 47 46 44 00 45tone.yrvum@

oslomedtech.no*

Oslo MedtechGaustadalléen 2 1

03 49 OsloNorway

mail@oslomedtech.no

Kathrine Myhrekathrine.myhre@oslomedtech.no

Published by Oslo Medtechwww.oslomedtech.no

*

Chairman:Carl Christian Gilhuus-Moe

ccgmoe@neomed.net*

MAGAZINE

COVER PHOTO: Gorm K. Gaare

Oslo Medtech together with US partners have for the last two yearsdeveloped a medtech bridge between Minneapolis/USA andOslo/Norway/Europe. Minneapolis represent the No. 1 medtech hubin the world, and is a solid foothold for Norwegian companies enter-ing the US market.The idea behind this bridge is to make it easier for US companies todevelop and introduce new products and solutions to the European

health care market, aswell as for Norwegiancompanies entering theUS health care market.Since the startup in2009, Oslo Medtech hasdeveloped into a clusterof 115 exciting busi-nesses, educational- andresearch institutions,investment firms andhealth institutions. OsloMedtech is a catalyst in

the process of developing the industry, both in terms of innovation,commercialization and internationalization. Cooperation andknowledge transfer within the areas of R&D, industry expertise, andtechnology are initiated internationally to solve the challengeswithin health care.Oslo Medtech can now offer introduction to clinical test facilities thatcan do both animal and human studies. US companies are alsowelcome to rent office space in the new Medtech Growth House atthe Oslo Innovation Centre.

Buildingamedtechbridge

The MedtechGatewayto Europe

4 OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.osl

om

ed

tech

.no

PICTUREBelow this page and right page: Professor Dr. Med. Erik Fosse

THE NORWEGIANMEDTECHGATEWAY

Professor Dr. Med. Erik Fosse:The InterventionCentre at Oslo University Hospital helps developing

and verifying cutting edge medical technologies.

THE NEW GATEWAY: For many mul-tinational medtech companies, Europehas for long been a preferred launch padfor new products. Attractive Europeanlegislation allows for faster and simplerprocedures for approval of medicaldevices saving the companies huge cost.Now, Professor Dr. Med. Erik Fosse atOslo University Hospital is ready to openthe doors and welcome American med-tech companies to his extraordinary testfacility at the Oslo University Hospital-Oslo.

“The Intervention Centre was estab-lished already in 1996, mainly due to ca-pacity issues our service offerings havenot been actively marketed before now”,

Dr. Fosse says. The 60-years old Norwe-gian surgeon is highly dedicated to hiswork whether it is to build top moderntest facilities for the medtech industry orsaving the lives of civil war victims. “Al-though we have not promoted the Inter-vention Centre to any extent, we havelong experience as development- andtest facility for medical devices from anumber of manufacturers ranging fromsmall Norwegian start-ups to interna-tional companies like GE, Phillips andSiemens” Dr. Fosse explains.

UNSURPASSED R&D QUALITY: Ac-cording to Dr. Fosse; “the InterventionCentre was established to create a link

between clinical practice, applied-,and basic research in the fields per-taining to minimally invasive andimage guided therapy. And becauseit was organized as an independentcenter within the hospital from thestart, it has been possible to con-duct cross-functional research in aunique way”. The results achievedby the center are astonishing.“Since the establishment, the Cen-ter has published more than 400scientific articles andmore than 25Ph.D and 50 M.Sc candidates have

earned their degrees through research atthe Intervention Centre”, Dr. Fossecontinues.

Dr. Fosse is also immensely proud ofhis staff. “The intervention Centre has across-disciplinary staff of 45 employeesincluding doctors, nurses, radiograph-ers, physicists and engineers. . In addi-tion, a large number of medical stafffrom most departments in the hospitalworks at a less regular basis at theCentre”, he says. There is also a highlyinternational culture at the Center. “Ouremployees come from 15 differentcountries and bring leading medical andtechnological expertise from all aroundthe world”, Dr. Fosse explains.

PEOPLE & PIGS IN A UNIQUE FACILITY:The Intervention Center offers advancedsurgical facilities approved both for hu-man and animal studies. Through col-laboration with the Veterinary Collegelocated in close vicinity, the animals canbe transported and observed in the col-lege’s advanced postoperative depart-ment. Dr Fosse points to theIntervention Center’s extensive experi-ence. “Since 1996, we have conductedroughly 10.000 human and 1.000 animalprocedures at the center”, he says.

5OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.oslo

me

dte

ch.noG

OR

MK

.G

AA

RE

Another unique feature of the inter-vention center is the architectural struc-ture. In three suites, advanced imagingequipment is integrated in an operationroom environment. “In 2008 all ad-vanced imaging equipment was re-newed, Dr. Fosse explains. Thecombined surgical and radiological suiteis equipped with the Siemens Zeego sys-tem, based on robotic technology andcontaining new advances in imaging andfunctionality. “Our MRI suite was com-pletely rebuilt into a dual room suitewhere a 3T MRI-device was installed inone room beside a state of the art OR”,Dr. Fosse says. “The two rooms are sep-arated by a sliding door, allowing sur-gery with standard equipment andintermittent MRI imaging”.

OSLO UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: The In-tervention Centre is a department in theOslo Univerity hospital. The hospital isthe result of a merge of the four publichospitals in Oslo: Rikshospitalet, Ullevålhospital, Radiumhospitalet and Akerhospital in 2010. With 20 000 employeesand an annual budget of approximately3.5 billion US dollars, the hospitals is oneof the largest in northern Europe. It is aleading hospital in cancer treatment,

transplant surgery, pediatric medicineand surgery, neuro and cardiac surgeryand medicine.

Oslo University hospital is involved indevelopment and clinical trials of phar-machological products and medicaltechnology, and has been the core arenafor the establishment of two importantindustrial clusters: Oslo Cancer clusterand Oslo Medtech cluster.

SPEEDING UP WITH OSLO MEDTECH:Dr. Fosse also acknowledges the role ofthe Oslo Medtech industry cluster. “Theintervention Center has had close col-laboration with Oslo Medtech since itwas founded in 2009. The helpfrom Oslo Medtech has been animportant factor for the Inven-tion Centers’ rapid expansion“Dr. Fosse admits. Oslo Medtechis an extensive cluster that cur-rently counts 115 members. Thecluster offers plenty of interest-ing collaboration opportunitiesas well access to important ser-vices such as CRO, industrialdesigners and regulatory ex-pertise. Oslo Medtech serves as aone-stop-shop for medtechcompanies who consider devel-

oping and testing their products in Oslo.In fact, Erik Fosse finds Oslo Medtechsuch a valuable partner that he joinedthe Board of Directors where he act asthe vice chairman.

“There is an increasing call for moreinformation than clinical outcome whennew methods are introduced in clinicalpractice. Today information of patientexperience, as well as total costs andcost utility, is required for determiningthe consequences of the new method.Through close collaboration with theclinical departments the InterventionCentre is able to providing such inform-ation”, concludes Dr. Erik Fosse.

The Oslo Medtech test facility:- High capacity: >1 00 surgeries (humans or an-imals) and 1 200 imaging/surgical procedures

annually- Prototype testing and simulation experiments

- Non-GLP preclinical studies- Clinical studies

- Office space for short-term rentals- Hotel facilities onsite

- Expersise (service) in CE-marking

Please contact Kathrine Myhre, CEO of OsloMedtech for more information:

kathrine.myhre@oslomedtech.com+ 47 930 69 634

6 OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.osl

om

ed

tech

.no

nationally, says special advisor Tom Skyrud in The Re-search Council of Norway.Read more: www.oslomedtech.noSIMULA-

TION,GAME& HEALTHOslo Medtech has launched a newfocus area by forming a new game,simulation and health group withthe objective of stimulate innova-tion and development of newproducts, services and solutions -that meets an unmet ‘medical’need.

The purpose is to stimulate boththe companies and the healthcaresector to take in use game, simu-lation and robotics technology inthe development of new products,services and solutions for thehealth care sector, says KathrineMyhre, CEO ofOslo Medtech.

Examples of areas of use can becognitive training, physical train-ing & activity, social activity – orSimulation and training in theacute situation, ‘hospital world’and for Operating Theatres.

Egil Utheim, founder and CEO ofMektron AS, will leadthe gaming group and act as a coordinator.

- There are not any natural meeting places where gamedesigners meets health professionals, somebody has tomake it happen. Oslo Medtech is the perfect matchmakerand arena for this, says Utheim.Read more: www.oslomedtech.no

MedtechWatch

LISENCING OFCANCERBIOMARKERSOxford Gene Technology (OGT), provider of innovativeclinical genetics and diagnostic solutions to advance mo-lecular medicine, has entered into an exclusive licensingagreement with Oslo Medtech-member Inven2, the tech-nology transfer office at Oslo University Hospital (OUS) andUniversity ofOslo (UiO) , for 12 highly promising colorectalcancer tissue biomarkers.

The exclusive license allows OGT to commercialise anyresulting test developed using these biomarkers and to sub-license the markers to other parties. The DNA methylationbiomarkers were developed in the laboratory of ProfessorRagnhild A. Lothe, in the department of Cancer Prevention,the Norwegian Radium Hospital, part of the Oslo UniversityHospital.

OGT has validated the results obtained in ProfessorLothe's laboratory showing sensitivity of 93% and spe-cificity of 90% when using tissue biopsies. Further workinvestigating the efficacy of these biomarkers in blood andfaecal samples is ongoing.Read more: www.oslomedtech.no

NEW EUROPEANR&D FUNDINGOslo Medtech is focusing on how the Medtech sector canuse R&D as a driving force in development and commer-cialization process. Research shows that it is those com-panies that have the best absorptive capacity and is cleverin taking in use R&D and new knowledge, which also aresuccessful in the long run.

In July, EU will announce the last R&D funding packagewithin the Health program under the Seventh FrameworkProgram for Research.

As of today, approximately 4000 Norwegian researchersparticipate in 1060 different EU funded research projects.

- R&D in the EU programs can open the doors to inter-national markets, and the networking part of it is very im-portant and valuable. It enables the companies to gainexpertise on an international level, and to test them inter-

BUILDINGA CYBER-HOSPITALThe use of game technology in the health sector is rapidlygrowing. An increasing number of health institutions seethe benefits of exploring game technology as a way to in-crease efficiency, provide better services, train staff and re-duce costs.

About a year ago at Oslo Medtechs meeting on Health andGamification, the Østfold Hospital Trust CEO Just Ebbesenchallenged his organization, the Norwegian ICT sector andin particular the Norwegian game sector to come up withinnovative solutions to create a new digital arena based ongame technology, designed to enable the hospital organiza-tion to be well prepared and ready to run the new five bil-lion NOK hospital as efficient as possible.

The lessons learned from another big hospital develop-ment, Akerhus University Hospital Trust (Ahus) inLørenskog localized outside Oslo, were the main drivingforces behind Just Ebbesens innovative thinking. Ahus ex-

7OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.oslo

me

dte

ch.no

perienced serious and expensivedowntime problems which lastedseveral months after the newhospital first opened in 2008,and Østfold Hospital Trust willneed to avoid doing the samemistakes.

- There are 300 000 potentialusers of the new hospital and ourmain goal is to provide excellentservices to our patients. Thetransition to a new hospital isvery challenging, and one of themost important tasks is to makesure our 5000 employees are able to perform at a 100 per-cent level from day one. We believe that the costs of devel-oping the digital learning platform will be significantlylower than the potential costs of downtime if the organiz-ation is not properly trained to run the new hospital.

- If this new digital gaming plattform can be put to use inother existing hospitals as well, the project profitabilitywill be even higher. We believe there is a real need for thisservice, that the potential customers are willing to pay forit, and that this can be developed in to an important andgrowing market, says Project Manager for the Østfold Hos-pital innovation project “Gametechnology for Organiza-tional Learning” Egil Utheim.

Most hospitals have their own training rooms and e-learning facilities. However, learning based on simulationand game technology is innovative and new and more re-search will have to be done to learn more about its effectsand efficiency in learning situations. One of the most im-portant aspects to succeed is to create games that are in-teresting, motivating and engaging. Game research knowhow to facilitate this; the game designer has to create pos-itive emotions, relations, motivation and goal-orientedachievements and learning outcomes (“serious gaming”) .20 year olds today have spent 10.000 hours playing games,not by force but by free will. There is a reason for that, saysUtheim.

The use of game technology in planning, training andpracticing has the potential to increase the operational ef-ficiency in several ways: by directly redusing damages tothe patients and by introducing more cost efficient solu-tions to deliver health services.

For example, game technology enables hospital staff tolearn where to find the various functions in the new hos-pital, all the different tools, by moving around in the digitalversion of the hospital like avatars. All sorts of differentscenarios can be played out and practiced, for example a

Østfold Hospital Trustwill be the first hospit-al in Europe to usegame technology tomodel and simulatethe new hospitalbuildings and to trainhospital staff in thevarious work pro-cesses and scenarios.

Game technology has the potential to increase operational efficiency.

HE

LSE

SØ

R-Ø

ST

CO

WI

AR

KIT

EK

TGR

UPP

EN

NY

TTØ

STF

OLD

SY

KE

HU

S

critical situation in the emergency room where a group ofplayers can prepare themselves to receive a seriously dam-aged patient, and practice how to cooperate in the bestpossible way to treat the patient.Read more: www.oslomedtech.no

BE CAREFULWITH SOFTWARE!Oliver Trepte in Swedish based engineering consultancycompany Hotswap describes the serious safety issues in-volved when developing software to medical devices, andthe potential pitfalls for developers.

– You`ve got to tread carefully not to kill your budget, oryour patients, says Oliver Trepte

Modern medical devices usually include software, andthe software often has impact on device safety. And anyunforeseen malfunctions in the software potentially canhave dramatic consequences.

One classic example is the Therac-25 radiation therapymachine, produces by Atomic Agency of Canada Ltd.Between 1985 and 1987 it caused a series of accidents seri-ously injured or killed six patients, in which patients weregiven massive overdoses of radiation. These accidents,caused by a software bug and system architecture safetydeficiency, have since become case studies in health in-formatics and software engineering.Read more: www.oslomedtech.no

8 OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.osl

om

ed

tech

.no

NORWEGIANSUCCESS

IN THE U.S.Cooperation between the two nations inthe areas ofniche technologies is literallynow in the billions ofdollars. Further,what is most impressive is the fact thatthe majority of these successful Norwe-gian companies have been small and me-dium sized business enterprises.

Norway’s success stems from severalfactors. First, Norway is well-known bythe U.S. government and American com-mercial entities for its core competencyin energy/environmental, medical, de-fense and agriculture/aquaculture tech-nologies. Norway’s science andengineering in these sectors is known toU.S. authorities. Much of it is the result ofNorway’s early use of simulation basedmodeling in developing tech-nologies, long before it becamea standard for the U.S. govern-ment or U.S. industry. I willnever forget years ago whenone senior technology official inthe Office of the Secretary ofDefense identified Norway asone of only four countries inthe world as having certain

niche technologies lacking in America.Norwegian companies who have beensuccessful in recent years have capital-ized on this technological advantage.

Secondly, Norwegian companies havebeen much quicker than other Europeancompanies in adapting and conformingto the American business model. Norwe-gians feel at home in the U.S. The factthat many – if not most – NorwegianCEOs, have a cousin in North Dakota orMinnesota certainly makes a big differ-ence! Seriously, though, Norwegianbusiness executives understand the oldadage, “When in Rome, do as the Ro-mans do.” In short, the Norwegian com-panies that have been successful in theU.S. market have been those who incor-

porate an “American Business Develop-ment Plan” in their strategy.

Teaming with the right Americanpartner makes a big difference for a for-eign company in succeeding in theAmerican market place. Over the years, Ihave observed that those Norwegiancompanies who have been the most suc-cessful in the U.S. understand that“biggest is not always best” when itcomes to a teaming partner in America.In fact, Norwegian companies that havebeen the most successful in the U.S. arethose who have teamed with a smaller tomedium-sized U.S. business. In suchcases, the teaming relationship has beena “win-win” for both companies. Forexample, most European medical com-

panies would not think ofteaming with the University ofNorth Dakota Medical School inGrand Forks, N.D. , to pursuemedical funding with the U.S.government or the medical in-dustry. However, for manyNorwegian medical companies,such a partner like the UNDMedical School may be just the

The last several years have beenextremely good for Norwegiancompanies striving to enter the

U.S. market. Norway has emergedas a model of success in

transatlantic cooperation with theU.S. , writes Van Hipp in this

article.

9OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.oslo

me

dte

ch.no

right kind of partner they need to suc-ceed in the U.S. Plus, the fact that theUND Medical School has more NorwegianAmericans as part of both the studentbody and faculty than just about anymedical school in America, doesn’t hurt.Further, the UND Medical School isranked as one of the best medical schoolsin America focusing on rural health,which is where more and more healthcare dollars are being allocated today inthe U.S. This makes sense to a Norwegianmedical CEO who understands the needto “follow the money!”

Successful Norwegian CEOs have un-derstood in recent years the unique rolethe United States Congress plays in theAmerican business process. The founda-tion for this uniqueness actually rests inour Constitution. Historically,the U.S. Congress has beenmuch more involved thanEuropean Parliaments in bothfunding and working withgovernment agencies and de-partments in developing re-quirements for newtechnologies. Norway has un-

derstood this and actually worked withthe U.S. Congress to develop the “Friendsof Norway Caucus” in the US Congress tofoster better business relations betweenour two nations. Much of the credit forthis goes to former Norwegian Ambas-sador to the United States, Tom Vraalsen.Ambassador Vraalsen’s vision is now areality. Today, the Friends of NorwayCaucus is comprised of approximately 55members of the U.S. House and Senate.Over the last 10 years, the Friends ofNorway Caucus has served as a greatvehicle for both the Norwegian Govern-ment and Norwegian commercial in-terests to present new and excitingtechnologies to the United States.

Lastly, good old fashioned Norwegianhumility and sincerity goes a long way

with Americans. American Governmentand business officials know they are get-ting a good deal as Norwegians almostalways “undersell” what they have, intypical Nordic fashion. As one formersenior U.S. government scientist oncetold me, “They [the Norwegians] couldhave a cure for cancer and AIDS andwould bury it on the back-shelf, down-playing its significance.” Needless to say,this U.S. government scientist was a hugeproponent of the United States doingmore and more with Norway.

In closing, it’s great to see Norwegianniche technologies succeed in the UnitedStates to fill critical unmet needs here inAmerica. Those Norwegian companieswho have been successful with the U.S.government have consistently seen that

success transferred over to theU.S. commercial sector and withincreased business back home inNorway. The U.S.-Norway busi-ness model in recent years hasseen much success. It is a suc-cessful working model fortransatlantic cooperation.

Van Hipp is Chairman of Americ-an Defense International, Inc.(ADI), a Washington, D.C.-basedconsulting firm specializing ingovernment affairs, business de-velopment and public relations.Over the years, ADI has been in-strumental in helping Norwegiancompanies secure over $2 billionin funding in the United States.Mr. Hipp is also the formerDeputy Assistant Secretary of theU.S. Army and currently serves onthe Board of Directors of the Nor-wegian American Foundation.

The Friends of Norway Caucus hasserved as a great vehicle for both theNorwegian Government and Nor-wegian commercial interests topresent new and exciting technolo-gies to the United States.

PICTURESLeft page: Iacob Mathiesen, Otivio, VanHipp, ADI, Kathrine Myhre, OsloMedtech.Right: Knut Fangberget ADI,Van Hipp, ADI O

SLO

BU

SIN

ES

SM

EM

O

1 0 OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.osl

om

ed

tech

.no

Product: VeriQ CCompany: Medistim ASAContact: http://www.medistim.com

VeriQ C is a new generation of intraoperativesystems for quality assessment used duringcoronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Itcombines state-of-art transit time blood flowmeasurements (TTFM) with a new ultrasoundimaging modality. By using ultrasound imaging, itwill become easier for the surgeon to plan,optimize and assess quality of the surgicalprocedure.

http://medistim.com

1

1 1OSLO MEDTECH MAGAZINE 2 01 2w

ww

.oslo

me

dte

ch.no

HI-TECHMEDTECHCutting edge Norwegian medical devices

Product: Cath-Tract™Company: UroLogical ASContact: jar@urological.no

Cath-Tract™ is a safe vesical access sheath thatsimplifies indwelling catheter care. It is a pat-ented solution with valuable advantages. TheCath-Tract™ increases patient comfort, simpli-fies the procedure for care and reduces risk ofinfection. The patent rights and idea are ownedby Urological AS, founded in 2006 by a Norwe-gian urologist, surgeon and inventor.

http://urological.no

Product: Virtual reality simulationCompany: SimSurgery ASContact: arild@simsurgery.com

SimSurgery develops and provides simulators fortraining of surgical skills and procedures with acombination of advanced virtual reality simula-tion technology and comprehensive training andanalysis tools, based on a flexible and intuitiveplatform for simulators in laparoscopy. The sim-ulators are developed by SimSurgery and formerLapskill Medical, merged with SimSurgery.

http://simsurgery.com

2

Product: Wireless cardiac sensorCompany: WPRMedical asContact: post@wprmedical.com

Curvus wireless technology analyses ECG signalsin real-time and detects irregular cardiac events,which instantly are transmitted to the physician.Recordings are stored for later download and off-line analysis facilitating a broader examinationprocedure. The Curvus System consists of awireless sensor, a receiver and a data suite to-gether with an underlying infrastructure.

http://curvus.com

Product: Sonitor RTLS S-TagCompany: Sonitor Technologies ASContact: roby.peeters@sonitor.com

The accurate and reliable positioning ofSonitor’s ultrasound based Real Time LocatingSystem (RTLS) improves hospital workflows,patient safety and satisfaction. The S-Tag wasdesigned with the healthcare worker in mindand features two buttons and a multi-color LEDthat enable the wearer to communicate requestsor status remotely.

http://www.sonitor.com

4 5

3

ww

w.o

slo

me

dte

ch.n

o

LAST PAGE

We asked Kermit Nash, an experienced andknowledgeable coming from the heart of themedtech industry about the Norwegian mar-ket and its medical device companies.

What is your advice for Norwegian companiesthinking about entering the US market?

- It is important to determine early on ifthere is a market for your product. Asking andanswering important questions about themarket early is critical when considering newmarkets. For example, when considering thetechnology, ‘does it meet an unmet need’ ; ‘ isscalable’ , ‘ is there reimbursement’ , ‘what isthe regulatory requirements for clearance orapproval’ and so on. Norwegian companiescan partner with Oslo Medtech, the ideal re-source for identifying the best sources to an-swer these questions. Having this type ofresource is particularly important consideringsome challenges that exist in entering the UShealthcare market.

In what ways can Norwegian companies part-ner in the U.S.?

- If you are considering an American part-ner, timing is essential. Large medical devicecompanies are typically looking for techno-logy that is scalable, has strong IPR and fitsstrategically with their existing distribution.They want to see technology that fits in theirexisting markets or has novelty to developnew markets. If he value can be demonstratedduring the early stages of development, alarge device company has a number ofwaysthat they may partner with emerging techno-

logies. Another important aspect is how longit will take to develop the technology, eitherdue to the innovation cycle or more likelynow, the amount of time it takes to obtainFDA clearance or approval. If the pathway tothe market becomes clear, large companieswill decide whether it can be efficiently dis-tributed via existing channels. In short; noveltechnologies that meet an unmet/undermetneed and which fits with the strategy is at-tractive.

- A partnership with an American companycan be a great way to co-develop a technologyand it is more likely to occur than a non-UScompany entering the U.S. market with a“stand-alone” technology. The trend is thatlarger device companies acquire companies ortechnologies to develop it further in the USA.

Howwould you see the opportunities forAmerican companies considering partneringwith Norwegian medtech companies?

Norway has world-class doctors, universit-ies and product development facilities. Nor-wegian companies start to think about theEuropean market early on, because they needto think about expanding outside their ownmarket. As a result, Norway is ideally situatedas an entry-point to the European market.Products that obtain regulatory clearance inNorway give you direct access to the rest ofEurope. More companies will be looking forstrategic, entry points into the Europeanmarket. Oslo Medtech has provided a com-fortable and competitive “port” for U.S.companies that intend on accelerating theirEuropean strategy.

Meet Kermit J.Nash, attorney atlaw at Gray PlantMooty in medtechhub of Minneapol-is. He has beenworkingwith  Norwegianmedtech compan-ies on a regularbasis for 1 2 yearsnow, and is a keyplayer in USA forOslo Medtech.

Q&A

OS

LOB

US

INE

SS

ME

MO

Kermit Nash: Norway is ideally situated as an entry-point to the European market.