Bridgehead made to US. East Coast

Celebrating 200 years of diplomatic relations between USA and Sweden, Swecare Foundation and Swedish Medtech signed a multilateral MoU with Maryland Department of Commerce as part of the CB Health Access Program.
Deputy Secretary, Benjamin Wu @MDBiz welcomes both Swedish and the central-baltic companies to Maryland, and offer supporting them as part of the joint agreement and with the @MedTechCon and @BIOConvention 2019 is just around the corner making the connection is a great way of preparing yourself and your company.

While on the business mission our colleague @NMJokilaakso had several fruitful meetings in Philadelphia and Baltimore identifying key organisations and people (such as Bruce Ellsworth @SelectUSA ) for entering into the US market  and attending @AdvaMedEvents @MedTechCon as supporting partner together with @Anna_lefevre @Swedish_Medtech  where former PM Tony Blair reminded that Healthcare reforms are the hardest thing you can do in politics because vested interests are also important in public sector and inertia. So there is plenty of work left to do but some first strides have been made for our mutual aim to improve healthcare.

Collaboration across borders to new markets - CBHA Final Seminar

The Central Baltic Health Access program has been part of our work at Swecare for a couple of years now. This interesting collaboration with Swedish Medtech and similar organizations in Finland, Estonia and Latvia to facilitate entry to new markets for our companies, has now come to an end. More information about the program can be found below, or check the label CBHA for all blog entries relating to the program.

The program has involved 65 companies and included home market coaching, target market coaching, tailor-made market information and business missions to all four target markets: India, USA, South Korea, and Uganda. There have even been some sales - not bad considering the long lead times in life science and health care - and several partnership agreements, in addition to the MoUs between the Baltic partners and coaches and organizations in the target markets.

The seminar began with a welcome by Malin Hollmark from Swedish Medtech and Piret Hirv, our program partner from Estonia who was also the moderator of the event. The seminar consisted of presentations from a coach for each market, as well as the sharing of experiences by one or two participating companies per market.

Sachin Gaur from InnovatioCuris, Target Market Coach for India, led the discussions. He presented his recommendations under the title: ´The good, the bad and the ugly´ which was appreciated by the audience. With a population of 1.3 billion and a 90% out-of-pocket expenditure on health care, there is great need for products and services at low prices.

Pavan Asalapuram presented EMPE Diagnostics' story and how their test kits can provide rapid information about drug-susceptibility in TB patients, which simplifies and assists doctors in providing the right treatment. The product has been received with great interest in the market and he will continue to work with Sachin to enter the Indian market. Pavan listed some of the advantages of the program, such as getting exposure and valuable contacts, proper guidance and access to local authorities.

The next market discussed was USA and Nima Jokilaakso, the Swedish local coach from Swecare, presented lessons learned and recommendations for entering the market. Some conclusions were that companies must realize that competition is really fierce in the US market and that in order to succeed you need to do business the "American Way" (don't be shy), to partner with local associations in order to use their network and in-house competence, and make sure you have legal coverage "for when you get sued".

Priit Kruus from the Estonian company Dermtest, that empowers general practitioners in fighting melanoma, expressed his struggle with being a small but growing company and the difficulties in prioritizing. Rasmus Hautala from Finnish Labrotex also shared his experience from the program. Their clearly defined goal of targeting the right key opinion leaders has enabled the company to reach their desired position.

This was followed by an inspirational speech from Birgit Linnamäe, both based on her experience from assisting and preparing companies to enter the South Korean market, as well as her reflections on cultural differences. Interactions between two people can be interpreted in many ways. How people perceive things such as time, space, temperature, family, truth etc are some examples she lifted.

Thomas Lööw from Swedish company Lifeclean presented their CBHA journey which has led to the shipping of one 40 feet container full of Lifeclean disinfectants to South Korea. Thomas mentioned that the program gave Lifeclean the opportunity to be part of a group, and he now realizes how important regular contact and relationships are for the process, both between company and coach, and with partners in the target market. The South Korea part of the seminar was concluded by Julie Yi, target market coach who gave her view of the program.

The last market was Uganda, where Anna Riby from Swecare presented some defining characteristics of the Ugandan market which has a heterogeneous and less regulated structure, with stark differences between city / country, private / public, and high out-of-pocket spending. Important things to consider for market entry are to offer the relevant product for the patient segment and an adapted business model. She also urges companies to use WhatsApp as a means of communication rather than emails and to persevere - it will take time!

Nina Nilsson from Bactiguard began her presentation by discussing September 13 - World Sepsis Day. Every day, every 3rd second someone dies of sepsis. With that said, she gave her input on how Bactiguard is looking at the Ugandan market potential. She described Bactiguard's process for market assessment and distributor selection. They focus on private hospitals since their buying power is much stronger. She confirmed that the process is slow, but they have not given up hope on landing a deal in the future, as demand for high-quality health care is increasing. 

Continuous training for medical staff in infection control and use of the products will be necessary when there is a sale.

The participants were divided into smaller groups for lunch in order to discuss and agree on recommendations for the CBHA team with regards to the program structure, coaching, and common challenges.

After lunch, the group discussions were summarized and the common-thread for all four markets seem to be the advice that a company wanting to access the market has to be willing to spend time onsite – with potential partners – sending occasional emails is not enough. Companies should consider their own resources, collaboration is key, and the local coaches invaluable. Also, it is important to spend time to “teach the coach” – the target market coach needs to understand your needs, your products, and your offer. Plan regular meetings with the both target market coaches and local coaches.

Before bidding farewell, Memoranda of Understanding with partners in the US market were signed by the partners on this side of the Atlantic. The American partners, the Commonwealths of Maryland and Pennsylvania and target market coach Bob Anthony, will sign during a ceremony which is part of the follow-up business mission to the US in a couple of weeks.

The last activity of the program will be a follow-up mission to India, organized by Swecare with the support of InnovatioCuris, after which this segment of the program will be wrapped-up. However, we will continue developing the contacts and networks that the project has resulted in and the Baltic partners have agreed to apply for a second phase, covering new markets, for which the input from the final seminar will be invaluable. So even if this was the Final Seminar, we hope that it will only be one step in the ongoing collaboration with partners in the Baltics and in target markets, so that we can support companies in reaching those distant markets!

CB Health Access program was initiated in 2016 between Estonian, Finnish, Latvian and Swedish organizations to support entrepreneurship in health technologies. The program has facilitated the entry of Estonian, Latvian, Swedish and Finnish health, med and bio- tech companies to distant markets – South Korea, USA, India and Uganda. CB Health Access provided the companies with an introduction of the target market, individual coaching both from the home country and from target market experts, market information, business missions, and support in identifying and contacting potential partners. The program has had a strong focus for the companies to achieve sales in the chosen market. The program is financed by the Central Baltic Interreg Program.

Champions are fair but never gullible

The seminar for readiness for internationalization was for those have participated in the CBHA program delegations and for others interested. The seminar started with Lennart Almstedt at Essence International giving stats and reasons why big markets are needed for growing companies, and how it is rather easy to enter new markets but much harder to grow and stay. The participants discussed the list for how management boards can assess their readiness. Available online.

Emphasis was put on understanding the driving forces of the board, aligning them, crisp knowledge of the company’s edge and how to tackle weaknesses. It was a good bridge to the next speaker, the serial-entrepreneur Donnie Lygonis who is also innovation coach at KTH Innovation and former VINNOVA Senior Fellow at the Nordic Innovation House in Palo Alto. This session lifted the importance of mindset when tackling a market such as the US and in particular what is needed from companies establishing themselves in Silicon Valley. Where breaking through the noise is harder, the competitors more abundant, faster and stronger but also in understanding the business culture that can either propel the company to success or alienate it.  In the spirit of the SV sharing is caring mentality he and we have added links to the podcasts with Key Opinion Leaders.

Time to get fit for fight, because "Blue Ocean"-strategy in the US is often rather proof of ignorance rather than good strategic option. Little of the proposed in the seminar was news but yet, so often forgotten when it really matters most. Do the work! 

The Largest Audience Ever - when Swedish Companies tour USA

Five companies from Sweden attended a business mission to USA in October-November 2017 to meet with healthcare insurance companies, legal and market entry experts, science parks and incubators and a lobbyist or two. The business visit was organized in cooperation with Swedish Medtech, Embassy of Sweden in Washington DC, The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce (SACC-USA and SACC –DC), with support from AHP International and The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The business visit was performed under the framework of CB Health Access, a joint program between Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia, which supports health technology companies entering distant markets.  

 

During the business mission to USA, the companies visited several sites in the Greater Philadelphia to Greater DC corridor.  The business mission started in Philadelphia where the companies met healthcare insurance companies, legal and market entry experts, science parks and incubators. The first day of meetings were held at the Morgan Lewis office, where meetings with Independence Blue Cross, and Ben Frankling Technology Partners, and the president for Sectra Inc. Which was concluded with socializing with the amazing local investors and Ulf Åkerblom the Swedish honorary consul to US.

The following day the companies visited Dreamit Ventures and other inhabitants at the Science Center, after which a meeting was held at the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia with representatives of the regional eco-system such as City of Philadelphia, Select Greater Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The latter has a collaboration with AHP International on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and thus had helped out with the Philadelphia program, thus the companies met AHP before traveling to Washington DC for a meeting on regulations with Advamed, located with a view of The Capitolium, what the companies managed to get a guided tour before closure.

The following day, the companies had a full day program at The House of Sweden, with experts on thrilling topics such as Macroeconomics & Political Outlook, Healthcare Laws & Regulations, e-Health interoperability initiatives, US.market entry from an academic and Swedish company experience outlook and finally what the essence of lobbying is. The program was done in cooperation with the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce that was helpful in arranging meetings, speakers and logistics. In the evening the companies and speaker had a rendezvous at welcome reception hosted at the Swedish ambassador’s residence.

The final day, the companies had tours to Medtronic,where the companies learned about how the global leader in medical devices is reinventing its role in the healthcare chain, setting up it´s own clinics in Europe. After which the tour continued to the Inova Center for Personalized Health in Virginia, where the companies got to learn how ICPH uses the latest science and technology to focus on the integration of genomics into personalized medicine and individualized wellness, as well as having individual meetings with experts. So after dropping half of the people at the airport the brave few continued to Maryland for a meeting with Get Real Health, created the personal health account commissioned by the Swedish eHealth Agency, called Hälsa för Mig.

CB Health Access program was initiated in 2016 between Estonian, Finnish, Latvian and Swedish technology organizations to support entrepreneurship in health technologies. The program facilitates the entry of Estonian, Latvian, Swedish and Finnish health tech companies to distant markets – South Korea, USA, India and Uganda. CB Health Access provides the companies with an introduction of the target market, individual coaching both from the home country and from target market experts, market information, business missions, and identifying and contacting potential partners, and business missions. The program has a strong focus for the companies to achieve sales in the chosen market. The program is financed by Central Baltic Interreg Program.

For more information on the CB Health Access program see https://www.cbhealthaccess.eu/, or contact: Maarika.Merirand@tehnopol.ee, Malin.Hollmark@swedishmedtech.se or Anna.Riby@swecare.se

Då far vi Karl-Oskar, då far vi till Amerikat!

Onsdag eftermiddag 11 oktober samlades en blandad grupp bolag för ett seminarium om vad som är viktigt att tänka på när man vill in på den amerikanska marknaden. För några bolag var frågeställningen extra angelägen och relevant då de under året deltagit i EU-programmet CB Health Access till fjärran marknader. Där de fått stöd och coachning på Svenskt håll av Swedish Medtech och SWECARE, och via den lettiska partnern i detta centralbaltiska program en marknadscoach i USA, vilket då i programmet ska kulminera i en resa för medverkande bolag till Philadelphia, PA i slutet av oktober.

Så efter en praktisk genomgång inför resan med de bolag som förberett sig för resan och en maning att lämna jante-mentaliteten hemma, så berättade Kevin Chambers och Tuula Ahlström på Amerikanska ambassaden om SelectUSA- programmet, vilket stöd som finns att hämta och vilka användbara verktyg som finns på hemsidan såsom klusterkartor och detaljerad statistik som kan vara till stor nytta inför investeringen att lansera i USA.

Därefter presenterade Lennart Almstedt sina erfarenheter från Go to Market USA, och vikten av att se lanseringen i USA som flera etapper där en viktig lärdom är att det är relativt enkelt att få igång viss verksamhet i USA men att det stora problemet är att skala verksamheten. För att kunna vara beredd så är det värt att inse att varje etapp är viktig och att olika verktyg tillsammans med metoder såsom lean-startup, är hjälpsamt. Vidare bör man inse att det är viktigt att engagera experter och partners på flera nivåer och i flera etapper så att den hjälpen tar en vidare i processen.

Efter att få flertalet praktiska tips av Lennart var det dags att diskutera ersättningssystemet, då detta är en central del att förstå för att lyckas i det stora landet i väster. Mary Scheuermann, använde sin presentation till att lyfta hur Affordable Care Act, ACA eller ”Obamacare” som den kallas i folkmun, fler former av ersättningsmodeller. Där målet är minska andelen av ”fee-for-service”-modellen som dominerar på marknaden. I en kommentar kring huruvida dessa mer resultat-orienterade och preventiva-modellerna kommer försvinna ifall ACA, ersätts så var svaret att det finns en bipartisan enighet att dessa ersättningsmodeller kommer finnas kvar, och en eventuell ny reform snarare vill garantera ”friheten” att inte ha en sjukvårdsförsäkring, och friheten att skattemedel inte ska gå till välfärdsprojekt.  En slutsats, var att det finns ett stort antal aktörer på marknaden som de svenska bolagen kan ha som kunder.

Så om två veckor åker nästa svenska ”landslag” för att gräva guld i USA…

...to be continued.