Partnering for Growth

Medtech innovation increasingly is becoming dependent upon partnerships. Corporate collaborations not only help improve product quality, they also expedite development and boost manufacturing efficiency.

Finding the right business partner, however, can be challenging. Like any relationship, professional alliances must be built on trust, open communication and perhaps most importantly, respect. But they also depend on the ability of both partners to recognize their core competencies, matching those competencies to opportunity, and making intelligent investments in both time and resources.

“As a company, you can’t possibly develop competence in everything,” noted Sean MacLeod, president of Stratos Product Development LLC, a Seattle, Wash.-based product development firm. “There are some areas of expertise that a company would choose to never give up but there’s also a lot that it might need help with, and that’s where a partner comes in.”

MacLeod lead a general session at the MPO Summit in Salt Lake City earlier this week with Ashish Bhargava, senior director of product development at Cyberonics Inc., a Stratos client. Bhargava said partners can help device companies effectively “shift direction” and innovate faster. In addition, the two parties also must be willing to work together beyond their primary contribution to ensure trouble-free clinical trials and commercialization.

“Communication is key,” Bhargava told Summit attendees. “The execution model is driven to a large extent by company culture.”