GCMI’s 2018 year end review and 2019 look ahead

Thanks to our staff, customers, sponsors and fellow industry, academic and philanthropic visionaries, GCMI has tangibly advanced our mission of accelerating the development, testing, training and commercialization of innovative medical products that improve quality based outcomes and delivery of healthcare for patients.

2018 Highlights

Leading with Quality, Full Speed Ahead

GCMI’s focus on quality compliance and customer satisfaction enabled us to enjoy a full roster of hands-on collaborations in 2018. We are grateful for these opportunities as they will lead to better patient outcomes. Our accelerator (A1) and design and development line of service (D2) incubated over two dozen early-stage concepts and companies supporting their goals using our Phase Zero product development and commercialization processes, GMP expertise, clean room facilities, maker space, and apprenticeship workforce development program. T3 Labs continues to expand its global roster of GLP preclinical testing and physician/inventor training sponsors, and its capabilities.

Highlights include:

A1

  • In February we announced a formal relationship with the American Cancer Society with whom we are raising $5 million in order to more rapidly bring groundbreaking cancer research from the lab to the clinic. Boston University’s BOTLab is the first to enter GCMI’s Accelerator Program with ACS’ support. Read more.
  • First digital health company enters GCMI A1 accelerator – In September, Ares Health Systems became the first digital health startup to enter the accelerator. We are using our commercialization pathway experience and health system relationships to help Ares further prove its value to the market. Read more.
    “The commercialization pathway is often hidden from digital health startups,” Entwistle says. “GCMI’s proven ability to streamline the pathway from concept to commercialization in the complex medical device arena should translate well into our own digital health journey as a young company in a highly competitive, highly rigorous industry.”
  • Atlanta and Israel launch new medtech accelerator
    In October, we put further validation on the “G” in “Global” Center for Medical Innovation by consummating a relationship with Israel’s Rambam Health Care Campus establishing a medical technologies accelerator for Israel-based companies here in Atlanta. Read more.
    “Bringing together Israel’s Rambam and Atlanta-based GCMI strategically extends metro Atlanta’s outreach to global markets that excel in innovation, particularly in one of our region’s core strengths – the healthcare ecosystem,” says Jorge Fernandez, VP Economic Development Global Commerce at the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

D2

  • Jackson Medical’s GloShield leads the way in making “never events” obsolete in the operating room
    “GCMI helped to characterize our use need and the thermal environment, then prototyped solutions that met the more refined specifications,” says Rains. “We knew that we had an innovative concept and that there is nothing like GloShield currently on the market, but needed to ensure that we were taking the correct steps that would help us reach commercialization in a timely and cost-efficient manner.”
    For Jackson Medical, GCMI’s Phase Zero program developed intellectual properties and a functioning prototype as well as received guidance on moving towards a commercial device. Read more.

T3

  • T3 Labs sets the gold standard in preclinical testing for CorAmi – a medtech company revolutionizing drug delivery for Atrial Fibrillation
    “We value T3 Labs because of the top-notch facilities and expertise,” says Dr. Levit. “We were in need of people with practical experience translating our device beyond the initial idea. It was easy to recognize this unmet need, but I did not understand the complexities that it would take to make it a reality: understanding the market, how to derisk a product, how many studies we would need and what documentation is needed for FDA submission and clearance. T3 is a flexible and efficient environment to work in addition to scientific expertise.” Read more.

What GCMI has in store for 2019

While our D2 Design and Development and T3 Labs Preclinical CRO service lines continue their high-value customer and sponsor work, we will be exploring multiple opportunities for growth and expansion. This, however, requires identification and development of resources, intellectual, financial and other capital, to achieve. Every day we continue to work with our collaborators in the local, regional and global ecoystems to learn how to optimize our collective efforts, be more efficient and do more with what we have.

Can medtech lead Georgia’s future economic development?

One way we will attempt to accomplish this is by raising awareness throughout the medtech, economic development and philanthropic communities about the potential for a Bioscience Innovation District centered around existing and nascent updated plans for Technology Enterprise Park. Georgia has all of the ingredients needed to change the face of healthcare delivery to reduce overall costs and improve patient outcomes through innovation. We have the infrastructure, talent and institutions. What’s needed next is a shared vision for the Bio-Innovation District and a collaborative organizational hub.

“The state’s and our regional partners’ collective resources should enable us to de-risk innovation bringing new products to market capable of improving patient care. Ultimately this should translate into reduced ‘time-to-cures’ and lower cost of development and care.” – Tiffany Wilson, CEO, GCMI”

Supporting clinical leaders in innovation, particularly in pediatrics

We will also continue to tell the stories about the life-changing, and value-based work our teams and partners like Dr. Scott Hollister and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) bring out of the clinical mindspace and into clinical care. Earlier this year, CHOA and Dr. Hollister performed Georgia’s first ever procedure to place 3D tracheal splints in a pediatric patient.

From the Georgia Tech News Center, “The splints were created using reconstructions of the patient’s airways from CT scans. Hollister and his team of biomedical engineers collaborated with the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) so that GCMI could create multiple versions of the splint, of varying sizes, to ensure the perfect fit was available for the surgical team to select and place around the patient’s airways during surgery. GCMI will also support the ongoing development and commercialization of the technology.”

Ultimately commercializing research to reengineer healthcare as we know it

Whether we like it or not, the shift to value is real and coming soon. It is better for patients and employers who will continue to exert more control over their own healthcare spending. De-risking new medical technologies to make them more attractive to new investment and increase the likelihood of successful commercialization and patient value provision is our focus.

The shift to value (where value equals outcomes divided by cost) can happen with speed: improving outcomes while reducing costs. Increasing the speed at which we do that can be a strong competitive advantage. We help researchers, clinicians and bio-engineering innovators make things go better, cheaper and faster based on what we do every day. For example:

We hope you will continue to follow our progress in 2019 and beyond by following us on LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter here. Stay tuned particularly for news on what’s next in our partnerships and a mid-Q1 2019 webinar on how the right process proves its value by de-risking medtech innovation.