Archive: akampion Meets …
akampion Meets…Dr. Roman Rittweger, Founder and CEO of Roman Rittweger Advisors in Healthcare and Organizer of the IIHC Conference
akampion: You are organizing a new conference called Innovations and Investments in Healthcare (IIHC). What is the idea behind this new event?
R.R.: I had been organizing an exclusive, invite-only German event for the past five years in Munich, but I felt it was time to open the format for new ideas and new people and also attract a broader, international audience. The past conferences have been very successful because we were not relying on the typical company presentations, but instead hosted interactive panels consisting of four experts and one senior partner of Roman Rittweger Advisors in Healthcare. No boring slides! The new event takes the concept even further and is, among others, inspired by the TED conferences.
akampion: So what exactly is the goal of the IIHC?
R.R.: Our goal is to present exciting international developments to healthcare players in Germany. We want to confront German opinion leaders with the latest business ideas from the US, Asia etc. As an example, take the mobile health businesses that arrived in the US and large parts of Asia already, but not here. We are also taking a look at how other countries organize and re-organize their healthcare systems, for example emerging countries. What is their cost-benefit assessment of proven and novel products?
akampion: Can you tell us more about the program?
R.R.: The program is a good mix of interactive panels, three-slide presentations in front of an expert jury, and so-called “speed-dating sessions”, which gives selected attendees the opportunity to tell others about his business. And the keynote is extremely important, too – this year, we got Brian David Johnson, Futurist and Director, Future Casting and Experience Research at Intel Labs, U.S. We even have panelists from Abu Dhabi and Kazakhstan, where the healthcare systems are currently being completely re-invented. Moreover, a trauma surgeon will introduce telemedicine approaches to improve the treatment of traffic accident victims, we will talk about the “quantified self”-movement and how health and gene data can help to improve quality of life and the healthcare system. We will also discuss what drives investments in healthcare, what regulators require these days from innovations and what pharma and medtech companies can learn from a venture capital fund.
akampion: Who is your target audience?
R.R.: We are primarily targeting German decision makers, but will increase the number of international attendees over time, e.g. from Scandinavia or Eastern Europe. It is important to us that we attract representatives from both start-ups and emerging markets, as well as established companies and countries. Regulators and payors are key target groups, too.
akampion: Sounds very exciting! Last but not least – why did you choose a venue in Berlin?
R.R.: We are fully aware that the informal part of a conference is extremely important, especially for networking and attracting a broader international crowd. Therefore, we have decided to host the conference in Berlin. We will also have evening receptions and offer our attendees the opportunity to explore Berlin´s fascinating nightlife.
More information about the IIHC can be found at www.iihc.eu
akampion Meets…. Victoria English, Co-Founder and Editor of MedNous
In 2006, long-time journalists Victoria English and William Ellington decided to quit their jobs and to establish their own publication, the biomedical trade journal MedNous (pronounced Med-Nows). A year later, in September 2007, the first issue appeared alongside with the website www.mednous.com.
akampion: Why did you establish MedNous?
Victoria English: Both of us thought Europe’s very innovative life science industry needed better communication. Back then, everyone was thinking in clusters and areas, and we felt by connecting the dots we could support the industry in its efforts to increase efficiency. Second, at that time the European Commission and the EMEA were very worried about the decreasing productivity of the biopharmaceutical industry, and Europe developed the Innovative Medicines Initiative, similar to the FDA’s Critical Path policy. This, too, called for better collaboration, and we wanted to capture this shift in official politics to encourage collaboration and translation of discoveries into products. Third, after working for many years in big corporations such as Reuters, DowJones, McGraw Hill and Informa, I thought it is time to start my own company.
akampion: What kind of preparations were necessary?
V. E.: After quitting our jobs we spent about 12 months to set up a website and a database, before we the first issue went out. During that time, we looked at every single bio-cluster in Europe and its member companies. Our database entries are updated ever since on a regular basis.
akampion: What exactly is MedNous focusing on?
V. E.: Originally, we focused on genetic therapy and stem cell therapy as we thought these were the most innovative areas and because no one else was writing about it. But it soon became obvious that these technologies were not that advanced as we thought, so we added other areas as well. Now we report about all companies developing products that will be regulated under the centralized procedure of the EMEA, plus projects validated by either venture capital funding or pharma collaborations. In fact, some companies emerge on our radar screen only after a huge financing.
akampion: How do you work?
V. E.: We do interviews on the phone, but for bigger stories we travel to the companies to get a first-hand impression. We also visit conferences. We are very interested in data, of course, but our key interest is answering questions like “what is the management like?”, “what is their strategy?”, “what have been their failures and successes?”
akampion: What does it take to fund a publication?
V. E.: You need to have capital, an interest in marketing and the business side. Luckily, we were able to finance the start ourselves, and now the company is generating revenues from subscriptions. And of course you need to adapt your technology all the time to spread the word. As an example, RSS feeds increasingly lost their importance – now it is all about Twitter and other social networks.
akampion: You still stick to a publication printed on paper. Why is that?
V. E.: Simply because we want to have an impact by providing a product that allows for a comprehensive view, which we think is valuable to the industry. For this reason we have also chosen not to break it down to single articles that can be purchased. We do, however, provide a PDF version of each issue.
akampion: You established an editorial board for MedNous. Why?
V. E.: We want to add some depth to our editorial coverage. So we take advice from the board on topics to write about, and we also ask members of the board to review our interviews before publication. Neither William nor I are scientists. We keep to the time-honored journalistic practice of maintaining independence from our sources, e. g, the people we interview do not vet articles about themselves. Yet we recognize that we need advice on some of the technical aspects. Members of the editorial board provide this advice. They are active and very valuable contributors.
akampion: How many people are working at MedNous?
V. E.: Currently we employ six people, including a contributing editor, web and production editors, proofreaders, etc.
akampion: What is your take on the European sector right now?
V. E.: In my view, Europe has a big competitive advantage over the US: the European healthcare systems may be diverse, but all are built on some kind of reimbursement and this guarantees a much closer look at the patient benefits of new medicines. So in this respect, feedback is much better and this will lead to products better serving the need of patients.
akampion: Do you still have time to do other things?
V.E.: Running a publication is a job that needs your attention most of your days, including the weekends. But I do enjoy visiting the British Library to read and I take modern dance and tap dance classes. In addition, I also help manage a number of community organizations including our local community center where I am a trustee.
akampion Meets…
We are currently establishing a new section called akampion Meets… Here you will find interviews with executives, investors, journalists, consultants and other professionals who share their personal opinions, experiences and insights. Check back soon!
