We are excited that our Founder, Marc Saab, took part in the Rendez Vous Innovation – Santé event put on by PME MTL and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to discuss ways to reduce the risks of developing health innovation. Marc is a passionate contributor to the Montreal digital health ecosystem and is dedicated to helping digital health companies get their solutions to market and gain adoption.
The event took place last September 27th at the Agora of the CHUM Research Centre in a panel format. The panel was led by Alain Bakayoko, Director – Commercialization and Innovation, Life Sciences and Health Technologies at PME MTL and included esteemed industry leaders Kathy Malas, Assistant to the President and CEO, and Head of Innovation and Artificial Intelligence, CHUM and Alexis Bilodeau, CEO NOVO and digital health expert, and our own Marc Saab.
The province of Quebec, and Montreal in particular, are hotbeds for health innovation with a rich ecosystem of companies developing new medical technology, unfortunately many of these discoveries never reach the clinical setting. This is because the innovation cycle in health care is fraught with obstacles and the business risks are great. How do we mitigate them? This is the question – and many others – that the participants of the first edition of the Rendez-vous Innovation Santé tried to answer.
The discussion was insightful and hopefully it can inform health innovators on better ways to validate their innovation and avoid some of the pitfalls so prevalent in the field. Below you may see the panel in French.
Some of the primary ideas that emerged from the panel are presented below in highly abbreviated form.
- Find allies
Early in the development of the innovation, the company needs to ally itself with clinical partners and domain experts. They may be part of the management team, members of the board of directors or act as external advisors. - Align with market needs
The development of health innovation is not a linear process, but rather it is iterative, creating, testing and improving along the way to the final outcome. - Develop a deployment strategy for the health system
It is essential to plan the integration with the technological architecture of the company’s target establishment. You must therefore obtain information from the people in charge beforehand to ensure that the solution can be integrated into their systems. You also have to think about change management, since technology will inevitably change practices. - Knock on the right door when looking for funding
From ideation to commercialization, the search for financing is continuous. At each stage of the innovation’s development, the company must turn to different sources of financing: grants and subsidies, public funds, tax credits, venture capital, etc. It can be difficult to find your way through this jungle. View our comprehensive list of Montreal digital health investors and sources of financing for startups and beyond.
These challenges drive our efforts here at BML Technology and they are the reason we exist. We understand that for digital health startups the runway is short, the cash burn is high and the challenges – Research, validation, clinical, regulatory, Go-to-Market, adoption – are everywhere. Our objective is to help digital health companies get their solutions to market and gain adoption.
Review our Blog to gain additional insights into three important regulatory challenges to consider for digital health startups and to better understand the specialized business services needs of digital health startups.
About PME MTL:
PME MTL support network for businesses, offers coaching, training and financing for entrepreneurs, to support them in launching and growing their businesses. PME MTL acts as a catalyst in developing entrepreneurship, working hand-in-hand with a vast network of partners and bringing together entrepreneurs with different experts, stakeholders as well as financial assistance and program managers. It all makes PME MTL the largest network of experts serving Montréal entrepreneurs.
pmemtl.com
About ISED Canada:
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada ( ISED ) works with Canadians in all areas of the economy and in all parts of the country to improve conditions for investment, enhance Canada’s innovation performance, increase Canada’s share of global trade and build a fair, efficient and competitive marketplace.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
About BML Technology
BML Technology understands digital health. At the intersection of medical technology, clinical research and patient-centric healthcare BML drives the mainstream adoption of digital technology in healthcare. Offering a full range of services to the digital health ecosystem BML manages the complex stakeholder interactions necessary to get digital health solutions to market and gain adoption.
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