Udi Gafni visited Baltimore from Israel in search of business partners.
Gafni’s firm, CardioSigns, develops a wrist-worn device that continuously monitors blood pressure pulses and provides data necessary to track cardiovascular disease.
“Cardiovascular disease is something that develops over 20 years. It doesn’t happen overnight,” Gafni said. “We don’t have the tools to identify this in advance.”
The potential global market opportunity for the product is about $2.5 billion, according to CardioSigns. But the potential U.S. market opportunity accounts for an estimated $1.3 billion, so Gafni had to pitch his company and product in America.
He had his opportunity at last week’s MarketReach America conference, hosted by the Maryland/Israel Development Center at Johns Hopkins University. CardioSigns was seeking a $5 million investment for product development and commercialization.
“It’s very helpful to build contacts that can open doors for you,” Gafni said. “The reaction we got was very positive from potential investors and collaborators.”
Eleven other Israeli biotech firms attended MIDC’s investment and partnering conference, which featured about 80 Maryland bioscience executives and researchers. It was MIDC’s fifth annual conference.
“Maryland is the natural destination for Israeli companies to open in the U.S. market,” said Abba Poliakoff, chairman of the MIDC. “More than 30 Israeli companies have established operations in Maryland.”
Maryland has several factors that make it an ideal entry for Israeli companies into the U.S. market, Poliakoff said. Institutions like Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration are closely located, Maryland is a relatively easy commute to Israel and a home of a vibrant Jewish community.
“Also, as an organization, MIDC provides the necessary business infrastructure for these companies to have a ‘soft landing’ in the U.S. market,” Poliakoff said.
When international biotech companies look to pitch their products and build their business in America, they’re looking for more than just an FDA approval, said Lynn Snyder, senior member of Epstein, Becker & Green’s Health Care and Life Sciences Practice in Washington.
“This is one of the leading high-tech corridors in the health care industry,” Snyder said. “When these companies are established, they know just selling their product isn’t going to be enough.”
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