Winners of the Medical Device Network 2021 Excellence Awards

T

he Medical Device Network Excellence Awards provide a platform to recognise the people and companies that are driving change and making a difference. Our sister website’s award programme is designed to highlight excellence within the sector by looking at a range of corporate activities including deals, business projects and company initiatives, both internal and in the community.

During our research we looked at projects covering the following areas:

    • Business expansion
    • Covid-19 response
    • Diversity initiatives
    • Environmental initiatives
    • Financing
    • Investments
    • M&A
    • Marketing
    • Product launches  
    • Research & Development 
    • Safety initiatives 
    • Social and community initiatives 

As part of the research, we invited case study submissions from the market and undertook extensive research looking back on our own coverage on our sister website, Medical Device Network, and on a wide variety of other industry sources over the past 18 months.

In addition, we also analysed a vast range of company data and releases from GlobalData.

Our awards are split into five main category groups:

Excellence categories
These categories look at achievements in our core areas of excellence and include everything from Covid-19 response to social impact.

Sector excellence
These categories look at achievements within each individual market subsector and can include everything from notable business expansion through innovation to diversity and environmental initiatives.

Firms of the year
These categories look at achievements by specific types of companies and includes everything from new market entrants to finance and legal firms. Each year we select an outstanding individual from the sector as our MVP as well as an upcoming talent as our ‘young gun’. We also have the same awards specifically for lawyers. 

Deals of the year
The most notable finance and M&A deals from the research period.

The full report with all winners across all categories can be found here.

The Excellence Categories recognise outstanding achievements in each of our core areas. All companies and organisations from across the sector are under consideration and we only consider projects directly related to the sub-categories.

The categories are also consistent across all the awards that we run so achievements in these areas can be viewed in the context of other sectors as well. They are: business expansion, Covid-19 response, innovation, product launch, research and development, social impact.

In this category we look at any projects that have expanded the company’s footprint in the sector. This can be anything from increased market share and M&A deals through to asset acquisitions or new product lines.

Shortlist: Biocept / Quest Diagnostics, Google / Ascension, IceCure / Terumo, Leica Microsystems, Olympus, Osso VR, Switchback Medical

Winner: Google / Ascension

Google and Ascension have announced the expansion of their pilot project to launch Care Studio, a tool to help clinicians organise patients’ electronic health records (EHR). The companies have been working with clinicians based in Nashville, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida, to trial the product, with the pilot now expanding to more physicians and nurses working in clinical settings. The software is built to work alongside existing EHR systems to streamline all data about an individual patient onto one centralised platform

In the Covid-19 Response category, we look to recognise those companies who reacted quickly and effectively to the global pandemic. This can include projects to protect staff through to steps taken to safeguard and preserve business and wider community initiatives.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected businesses in more ways than anyone could have expected and the reaction to it has also been very revealing. Responses have not been restricted to damage limitation, as forward-thinking organisations have taken the opportunity to review their practices, streamline and also look for new opportunities that may not have emerged otherwise.

We also want to recognise companies that have looked beyond their own walls and helped with society’s broader response, everything from financial support to manufacturing and supplying equipment supplies and medicines.

Shortlist: Abbott, Avacta, BD, Eurofins, Iceni, Insilico, Kantaro Luminex, Ortho Clinical, PerkinElmer, PRA / PWNHealth / Fulgent Genetics, Qiagen, Quidel, Roche, Thermo Fisher

Winner: Thermo Fisher

Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched the newly designed CE-IVD marked TaqPath Covid-19 RNase P 2.0 assay kit. The new kit has been redesigned for the detection of active SARS-CoV-2 by identifying the presence of any one of eight gene targets from the virus. It helps in providing accurate results even for current and future Covid-19 viral mutations by surveying multiple genes.

The US Food and Drug Administration also granted emergency use authorisation for the company’s new saliva sample collection method for its automated Covid-19 testing system. The Amplitude Solution uses saliva samples collected with the Spectrum Solutions SpectrumDNA SDNA-1000 collection device, which provides critical sample consistency while neutralising DNA/ viral RNA transcripts after collection of samples to help ensure accurate test results.

Our Innovation category looks at all projects and initiatives that have made a clear change to a business or organisation’s functions or delivery. Innovations could range from new product or service concepts, changes to a business structure, utilisation of new technology or disruptive concepts from other industries.

More than ever before, organisations are seeing change disrupting their sectors through the ever increasing use of technology, the internet and artificial intelligence. Equally, the ability to learn from other sectors, get fresh perspectives and encourage cross-pollination has become more common and more necessary than ever to maintain that competitive edge.

Shortlist: 30M Genomics, Allabout, CMR Surgical, King’s College London (KCL), Massachusetts General Hospital Consortia, Medtronic, RMIT, Tulane University, Turn Therapeutics, UW Madison.

Winner: CMR Surgical

CMR Surgical has teamed up with Microsoft to innovate in a different area – data storage. Clinical information about procedures carried out using the CMR Surgical Versius robot is now being stored on a tiny glass platter, a proof-of-concept device being developed as part of Microsoft’s Project Silica trial.

The technology is designed to safely store data for more than 10,000 years and permits the preservation of surgery data, including procedural videos and critical telemetric data. Over the long term, CMR hopes to harness this information for future training and clinical study.

This category looks specifically at those companies who have launched a new product or service into the market. We look at the whole process of launching a new line including the concept, the need that it meets, the development cycle and the time taken to bring it to market, not to mention the qualities of the product itself and any marketing campaign enacted to accompany the launch.

Product launches are multifaceted and take a high degree of skill to get right. Companies have to consider a range of factors including the needs the product meets, the likely demand once in the market, the timing of the launch, the message of the launch and the best way for the message to reach potential customers.

Shortlist: Abbott, Abingdon Health / BioSure, Blink Science, Boston Scientific, CHF Solutions, Endospan, Explorer Surgical, HeartFlow, Kardium, Medtronic, Mesa Biotech, Orthofix Medical, PARI Pharma, Philips, Roche, Sensyne Health, Siemens, Smith+Nephew, Thermo Fisher, Valencell

Winner: HeartFlow

A technology called HeartFlow Analysis has been rolled out by the NHS to aid the diagnosis of coronary heart disease. Using data captured by a CT scan, it generates a 3D model of a patient’s heart, and applies deep learning techniques to predict the impact of any blockages.

This category looks specifically at the investment and work put into realising new concepts. Unlike the innovation category, in R&D we are looking only at new product concepts and the level of time and investment companies are putting into realising them. Projects do not need to have reached the market to be considered as we are most concerned with an organisations commitment to new ideas rather than the ultimate end result.

Shortlist: Abbott, Inspira Technologies Oxy Bhn, Ortho Clinical, Philips, Qiagen, Quidel, Renovia

Winner: Renovia

Renovia launched an app-based digital clinical study into urinary incontinence. The digital format allowed the company to see benefits that traditional trials do not, including higher participation rates from diverse populations and better data quality. The format of the trial also allowed women to interact with it discreetly. The company hopes the trial will lead to more women being treated as even though drug-free, non-surgical treatments exist, the condition is often underreported

This category recognises excellence in projects that benefit the wider community. We are specifically looking for organisations that have made a tangible positive impact in their local community or in society in general, and have done so outside of their usual business functions.

Projects under consideration can be anything from charity support to the provision of free products and services and financial grants. Community support and outreach is something that should be a key pillar of all good business strategies. No organisation is an island and being a positive influence in society is just as beneficial to the benefactor as to the beneficiary.

Shortlist: FemTech Lab, Galt Pharmaceuticals, Virti

Winner: FemTech Lab

A new technology accelerator called FemTech Lab is aiming to support the scale-up of new companies developing innovative solutions tailored to women’s health and wellbeing. The firm’s first-ever program began on 27 February, helping a cohort of femtech founders from 10 companies prepare for their first ever venture capital funding round. These start-ups have been given access to industry experts and specialist resources to help them scale their product development and raise funds.