| | OCTOBER 202319UTLOOKHealthcare Tech WHAT METRICS DO VCS MEASURE WHEN THEY INVEST IN A STARTUP?It depends on the positioning of funds. For seed funds focused on early-stage innovations, investors look at the technology and see if it can be successfully translated into a product that meets crucial medical needs. Even if an academic team develops it, the investors only focus on the execution of the project and product validation. More considerable capital for products at the clinical stage requires different metrics. Investors see if the product can run a trial if the developers understand its purpose, and if they possess the necessary people skills to build contacts with other pharmaceutical companies for opinions.Product developers must look for funding at the proper phase of product development.ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES WHEN PRODUCT DEVELOPERS OPT FOR VCS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES?Let us take the UK and the U.S. as examples. The only difference is that more capital is available in the U.S. than in the UK. The processes remain the same. The U.S. can spend five times more money than the UK; for instance, a seed fund can be 2-5 million in the UK but can reach even 20 million in the U.S. In terms of companies, European companies are more product-oriented, whereas American companies are technology-oriented, with the capacity to transform their technological aspect into a clinical part. The latter is, therefore, more likely to be listed faster.HOW DO YOU PERCEIVE INNOVATIONS LIKE PERSONALIZED AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE CAN LEAVE A LASTING IMPACT ON THE OVERALL HEALTHCARE LANDSCAPE?Innovations are always ongoing, and it is hard to say how they can revolutionize the domain in the future. For instance, cell and gene therapy began in 2010, but even after 10 years, it hasn't become successful as it still takes long cycles and fewer products exist to execute it. Some innovations transformed the domain within 10 to 15 years as well. An excellent example is sequencing technologies that helped find mutations and develop precision medicine, where we identify a subsection of patients who are the high respondents to a drug.Specific medical emergencies also lead to the development of technologies. RNA therapeutics in the industry for a long time were emphasized after the COVID-19 breakthrough in mRNA vaccines. Patient-centricity has always been the industry's goal. Every research and development process is aimed at ensuring patient safety. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO PHARMA AND MEDTECH TO ACHIEVE SUCCESSFUL CAPITAL FUNDING? A company's CEO should be the first person to work for a product's funding and should ensure there is an excellent, independent product development team.Most investors are refraining from investing in startups recently. If startups had to approach 30 VCs before, it has now reached over 200. It is imperative to stay patient in this scenario and wait for the market to change while consistently working on improving the product. Ensure every step of the approval process is completed to save expenses, as they are equally important.Sometimes, the product developer will be the only believer in a product's capabilities, and it can take a long time to convince investors, especially when investors are becoming very selective. Product developers should keep up their perseverance and work toward proving the efficiency of their product. HTFlorent GrosMost investors are refraining from investing in startups recently. If startups had to approach 30 VCs before, it has now reached over 200. It is imperative to stay patient in this scenario and wait for the market to change while consistently working on improving the product
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