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.

One crucial factor we often take for granted

In our 40 years, there is one lesson Swecare learned early, and which has been proven time and time again: successfully launching a Swedish healthcare company in a new market requires solid collaboration with a local partner. One with intimate knowledge of the local healthcare systems, long-term relationships with the key players within it, and a determination to do good. As a celebrity recently claimed – healthcare is complicated. Even those working in other industries, including defense, would agree that nowhere does local values, politics, culture, economic means have more impact than in healthcare. Projections of GDP growth, investment figures, risk assessments, population dividend and other macro figures are not enough to determine whether a product or service from within the Swedish healthcare and life science sector will be successful in a new market. Ours is a traditional sector by definition – nothing is as sacred as saving lives. Introducing new solutions even within our own borders is a challenge, doing so in countries which do not share our language, culture, social structure, even more so. Swecare realised early that our secret weapon is, and despite the advent of AI will remain for some time, our partners around the world - partners who have a stake in our success: who understand the way doctors work, hospitals purchase, politicians fund, and patient seek care.

Swedish Medtech, Swecare, and InnovatioCuris
representatives signing the MoU at Vitalis 2018 in Gothenburg

This week marked another milestone in Swecare's work within the EU-funded Central Baltic Health Access project. While we served as 'local' coaches for the companies within this Swedish Medtech-led project, the success of the program was very much dependent on our 'target market' coaches. In March we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Uganda Healthcare Federation strengthening our commitment to work together in order to support more companies in entering the Ugandan Market. And on Tuesday this week Swecare signed an MoU with Sachin Gaur of InnovatioCuris at Vitalis 2018, pledging:

• exchange of information
• promotion of opportunities
• initial contact and consultation
• networking services

Sachin has proven to be an incredible partner, with InnovatioCuris providing the companies that traveled to India under CBHA with invaluable support. He is an expert on cyber security and innovations in healthcare management. Together with his CEO Dr VK Singh, they have turned InnovatioCuris into one of the few leading consultancies focussing solely in healthcare and life sciences in India. We hope that this project is once of many more collaborations to come.

Tallinn Science Park Technopol, Uganda Healthcare Federation,
and Swecare representatives signing the MoU with
Swedish and Ugandan Ministries of Health as witness in Kampala

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/ and visit Swecare Blog.

Rwanda & Uganda: Exploring East Africa - Part II

Diversity. The cross-section of Swedish society represented in our delegation surprised even us organizers. We came from government, agency, institutions, and private business; covering the domains of diplomacy, policy, financing, MedTech, pharma, eHealth, and consulting; with origins ranging from South Africa, Kenya, Bangladesh, China, and Germany; all of us representing and promoting Sweden - and Swedish expertise, with a goal to learn, collaborate, and strengthen our capacity. We were also joined by a representative from our EU-funded project Central Baltic Health Access, Piret Hirv from Tallinn Tehnopol Sience Park.

The objective of this delegation trip, like the one to Kenya and Tanzania in November, was to take a few companies, institutions, and state representatives to Rwanda and Uganda, to meet potential local collaborators with whom they can forge longlasting partnerships in order to expand, and/or establish, their presence in and across East Africa.

The delegation trip itself would not have come about without the close collaboration between Swecare Foundation, Business Sweden, and the Swedish Embassies in Kigali and Kampala as well as the CBHA. The visibility and credibility of the delegation increase significantly when we work towards a common goal while planning these visits.

Program Overview

The trip started with Monday morning with a briefing at the Swedish Embassy in Kigali, led by the Swedish Ambassador to Rwanda, Jenny Ohlsson. 

Site visits included a trip to the Military Hospital, which is in the process of installing an Elekta unit in their largely insurance-covered facilities. The delegation then met with the Director General of Clinical Services at the Rwandan Ministry of Health and got a first-hand account of the evolving state of the Rwandan healthcare systems at the sprawling Kigali University Teaching Hospital (CHUK). It was encouraging to hear about the amount of resources the Rwandan government devotes in ensuring that an increasing number of patients are covered by insurance. The day ended with a reception hosted at the Swedish Residence.

On our second day, we had the extraordinary privilege of attending the first African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) Business Forum, one-day before the signing of this historic commitment. This was followed by our own East African Community Business & Investment Forum, an annual initiative by the Swedish East Africa Chamber of Commerce (SWEACC) with a focus on health this year. Despite strong competition from the much-larger coinciding event, we had a decent turnout (see picture above) and, more importantly, a couple of heated sessions on disease management and long-term financing solutions. The session included a welcome by Dr Jean-Pierre Nyamanzi, the Permanent Secretary at the Rwandan Ministry of Health, an introduction by our delegation leader Niclas Jacobson from Socialdepartmentet and a talk by an industry expert, Hans Winberg of the independent policy thinktank Leading Health Care. This was followed by B2B meetings for our private sector partners. 

After an early flight into Entebbe on our third day, we made a site visit to the National Medical Stores, which handles the procurement and distribution of goods for the public hospital system, before heading into Kampala, Uganda. The Swedish Embassy in Kampala organized an impressive networking reception which drew all the major actors in the Ugandan healthcare sector - a testament to the incredible relationship between our two countries. Such was the interest in our companies, that many of the delegates did not get a chance to sample any of the refreshments on offer. I am looking forward to seeing some of the contacts made that evening develop into concrete partnerships. Swecare and Tallinn Tehnopol Science Park took this opportunity to sign a MoU with the Ugandan Healthcare Federation in order to formalize the existing collaboration under the CBHA program.

Our big surprise the next day was a meeting with the Ugandan Minister of Health herself, the Honorable Minister Sarah Opendi, whom, we had been told, would be unable to meet with us. She went out of the way in order to make time to sit down with us to discuss taking projects and investments to the next stage. The delegation made site visits to the new maternity wing of Uganda's largest hospital, Mulago Referral Hospital, and its associated Ugandan Cancer Institute (UCI), which has also recently acquired an Elekta unit. After short meetings at the Joint Medical Stores and the new management at International Hospital Kampala, we said goodbye to much of the delegation as only a few of us stayed on for one last, optional, morning session at the UK-East Africa Health Improvement Summit.

Most common requests:

• More frequent visits
• Clear follow-up
• Financing solutions
• Technician training

Participating Companies

Much of the reason for the success of this delegation trip rests with the participants - a dedicated set of smart, funny, and flexible individuals. Thank you for coming!

• Getinge
• Elekta
• Doctrin
• Luco Holding
• AstraZeneca
• Swedfund
• MedCardApps (MCA)

For those who were not with us this time, do look into joining us on one of our upcoming trips: Swecare Events.

Central Baltic Health Access - Dissemination Seminars

Central Baltic Health Access is an EU-funded program that aims to help health care companies access distant markets. The program started 2.5 years ago, and has helped more than 50 companies in the partner countries reach markets in India, South Korea, Uganda and the US. 

Swedish companies presenting at InnoHealth in New Delhi, September 2017

The dissemination seminars are part of the finalizing activities, and last week we met with companies who have entered India and Uganda through the program, as well as companies and organizations interested in learning from their experiences. The idea of sharing expericence and lessons learned proved to be just the right thing:

After having completed my post-graduate studies, I realized that I had, in fact, learned more from my classmates than from my coursework. This is similar to my experience when participating in, and sometimes even leading, Swecare seminars. When considering markets like South Korea, Uganda, India, and the US, the companies need us mostly as a platform to connect with each other and to potential local partners. This might seem trivial at the outset, but if you look for opportunities to meet possible competitors or like-minded companies interested in similar markets at a neutral setting, hosted by an organization without its own agenda - you may come up empty-handed. And this has really been the strength of the Central Baltic Health Access program from the outset.

The dissemination seminars are meant for the companies who participated in the trips, but Swedish Medtech and Swecare decided to extend the invitation to all the companies in our networks which may be interested in the chosen markets. The participating companies thus got the chance to share their experiences and also meet new potential allies in their efforts to enter a new market. It also gave us the chance to discuss concrete activities to ensure that the momentum of our relationships, with each other, the target market coaches, and local partners, could result in concrete deals.

Follow-up trips to all four countries are already being planned so make sure not to miss out! So far Swecare has plans for delegation trips to Bangalore, India (February 14-16) and Uganda and Rwanda (March 19-23). Contact us for more details.

CBHA Uganda Business Mission visiting International Hospital Kampala, August 2017

CB Health Access Business Mission to Uganda - Mission Accomplished

Six companies from Finland and Sweden attended a business mission to Uganda in August 2017 to meet with local hospitals, distributors and NGOs. The business visit was organized in cooperation with Uganda Healthcare Federation, and 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 Uganda, the companies visited large and smaller private hospitals and clinics, distributors and NGOs. One-to-one meetings were set up to explore collaboration opportunities, and the companies presented their solutions at a conference of over 120 participants, most of whom were private-sector health care providers and distributors.
 “I was positively surprised by the level of business opportunities in Uganda, after travelling extensively in Southern Africa for many years. I’m coming back!” said Roland Nilsson, president of Pansanté, a Swedish company offering a sustainable clinic and hospital concept. The other companies also admitted to having rather low expectations prior to the mission, but interest towards their solutions and the number of concrete leads by far surpassed what they had expected. Uganda’s economy has grown strongly over the recent years, with a growing middle class demanding higher quality healthcare. The country has a large private sector in healthcare, accounting for approximately 50% of healthcare expenditure. The government funds allocated to healthcare have steadily increased, but out-of-pocket spending still remains high. Health insurance coverage is also on the rise. 

Participants of the Business Forum in Kampala

All participants were also very satisfied with the target market coaching that was provided in preparation to the business mission. “Thank you, Uganda Healthcare Federation and CB Health Access partners. You’ve worked very hard to make these days valuable to our businesses, which has led to some very tangible opportunities for us!” said Nina Nilsson, from Bactiguard, whose solution helps reduce healthcare associated infections. Kasperi Kankare from an ophthalmology device company Icare Finland Oy stated that the mission has led to a steep learning curve and adds: “I love how one of the potential clients understood the business case, and I’m now eager to continue discussions with them”. The partners of CB Health Access together with Uganda Healthcare Federation will continue to support the companies, to help them reach results on the Ugandan market.

Study visit at International Hospital Kampala

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

Business Mission till Kampala med CB Health Access

Nu har vi hunnit pusta ut och komma i kapp efter hektiska dagar i Kampala. Swecare är partner i ett EU-finansierat projekt, Central Baltic Health Access to Distant Markets (CBHA), där varje partners i Estland, Finland, Lettland och Sverige valt en avlägsen marknad var. För företag som antagits till programmet ingår coachning på hemmaplan och av en lokal coach samt en "business mission" till resp. land. Eftersom Swecare har ett gott samarbete med Uganda Healthcare Federation valde vi Uganda.

UHF är en branschorganisation för privata hälso- och sjukvårdsaktörer, och en del av East Africa Healthcare Federation. De har många och goda kontakter i landet, inte bara i den privata sektorn - som är mycket stor i landet och står för 60% procent av hälso- och sjukvården, utan även i den offentliga sektorn och akademin. På så sätt är de en perfekt partner till Swecare! Den lokala coachningen har skötts av Mark Achola, med många års erfarenhet av affärsutveckling och av hälso- och sjukvårdsmarknaden i Östafrika.
 

Glada delegater och representanter från Uganda Healthcare Federation

Nåväl, i resan deltog fyra svenska företag och två finska nämligen Bactiguard, MedCard Apps, Pansanté, Seedoo och Ikare och Turku University of Applied Science. Dessutom var representanter för projektkoordinatorn i Estland med oss. På programmet stod studiebesök på bl a Joint Medical Stores, en not-for-profit organisation som erbjuder inköp, distribution samt service och underhåll; Ernest Cook Ultrasound Research and Education Institute; Kampala Imaging Center sist på eftermiddagen Uganda Healthcare Marketing Group som jobbar med folkhälsa, supply chain och franchising av kvalitetssäkrade s.k. Good Life Clinics över hela landet.

På JMS stora centrallager

Tisdagen omfattade den viktigaste delen i hela besöket, nämligen en konferens med stor uppslutning från den ugandiska sidan. Totalt var vi 120 deltagare som lyssnade till inledning av UHF:s styrelseordförande Dr. Mugisha, följt av Ms Evelyn Gitonga från PharmAccess’ stiftelse Medical Credit Fund. Hon pratade om utmaningarna med att finansiera sin verksamhet och vad man som företagare inom hälso- och sjukvård bör tänka på innan man fattar ett investeringsbeslut. Medical Credit Fund, som finns i Östafrika och är ett ”financial access supply chain company” för små- och medelstora sjukvårdsföretag.

Hälsningar från alla deltagarna i tisdagens konferens!

Efter presentationer från projektpartnerna var scenen öppen för företagen att presentera sina lösningar. Det uppstod stort intresse och under eftermiddagens match-making ringlade köerna stundtals långa för att diskutera vidare med företagen. På kvällen hade vi en trevlig middag med personer från UHF:s styrelse, Anna-Maria Olsson från Svenska ambassaden i Kampala och Daniel Okello från Public Health Directorate på Kampala Capital City Authority.

Den tredje dagen ägnades åt fler studiebesök, där International Hospital Kampala var först ut. Swecare har besökt sjukhuset, som räknas bland de absolut främsta i landet, flera gånger, så det var roligt att träffa dem igen. Företagen fick enskilda möten med ledningen, och vi fick också en intressant rundtur.

Delegationen besöker International Hospital Kampala och Col. Bhagat, VD

 
Vi besökte också ett par andra, lite mindre sjukhus som varvades med separata uppföljningsbesök för företagen.

Vi fick titta in i operationssalen på Mukwaya Hospital

På kvällen hölls en avslutande middag, där vi konstaterades att programmet var välplanerat, gav många kontaktytor till hälso- och sjukvårdssektorn och att intresset för företagens lösningar var mycket stort. De flesta företagen erkände att de haft ganska låga förväntningar, men att intresse och antalet konkreta deals med råge överträffade det förväntade. Genom CBHA programmet kommer Swecare och coach Mark stötta företagen i uppföljningen av kontakter och satsning mot den ugandiska marknaden. Vi vet förstås att det tar lång tid, men hoppas på goda affärer för alla företagen!

Vacker vy från Mengo Hospital