Lausanne, Duebendorf, St. Gall, Thun – January 17th, 2013 – The first product to hit the Swiss market from Empa and ETH Zurich spin-off compliant concept AG is surpassing all expectations. The successful market launch of the electronic healthcare assistant also impressed investors. Following a successful round of financing, the company’s investors now include Lausanne-based Debiopharm Group™ (Debiopharm), Zürcher Kantonalbank (Cantonal Bank of Zurich) and Empa. As a result, compliant concept can continue to grow and expand abroad.
Cost pressures in the healthcare system and care requirements are constantly increasing. At the same time, the individual workload managed by nurses and caretakers is becoming heavier. Consequently, intelligent solutions that ease their workload and guarantee constant, high-quality care are more in demand than ever. Michael Sauter, CEO of compliant concept AG, a company founded in 2009 and located in Empa’s “glaTec” technology centre in Duebendorf, does not just have some ideas on this subject. He also provides a solution. In July 2012, the mechanical engineer and his team launched their first product to form part of a comprehensive mobility and activity analysis concept for individuals in need of care. For the first time, it is possible to obtain objective information about sleep patterns and mobility. As well as benefiting those in need of care, the new possibilities offered by this product are of particular assistance to nurses and caretakers. The “Mobility Monitor” supports nurses and caretakers in their decision-making processes and contributes to the efficient planning, design and documentation of care.
According to Sauter, feedback from the first customers was overwhelming, with the monitor being used in a much more versatile manner than originally anticipated. In the first quarter after sales commenced, the company had already generated over 50 percent higher sales than had been forecast in the business plan. The first customers were already buying additional devices and the company had succeeded in obtaining a contract from the Swiss nursing home group “Tertianum” for use of the Mobility Monitor in all their senior citizen residences. Luca Stäger, CEO of the Tertianum Group says: “The use of the Mobility Monitor supplements the professional nursing skills of staff at the Tertianum residences as well as Perlavita establishments and provides our residents requiring nursing care with individually tailored safety and quality.” From the beginning of 2013, the Mobility Monitor will also be distributed in Germany and Sauter reports that discussions are already being held with partners in other countries.
First round of financing successfully completed
Both the idea and the product have convinced investors. Sauter recently completed the first round of financing. Now, he not only has the support of various private investors, but is also backed by institutional investors – Lausanne-based Debiopharm, Zürcher Kantonalbank (Cantonal Bank of Zurich) and Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.
“I am delighted with the excellent investment structure. We now benefit not only from the capital these investors are providing, but also from their expertise and huge networks”, comments Sauter. Thierry Mauvernay, Debiopharm Group’s Delegate of the Board adds: “The start-up spirit is greatly valued by Debiopharm. We want to foster and sustain it by supporting other entrepreneurs over the long term. compliant concept corresponds to our idea of the medicine for the future, where prevention reduces healthcare costs as well as the suffering of the most fragile patients.” The newly injected capital will enable compliant concept to grow further and expand into other countries.
How the Mobility Monitor works
A monitor is attached to the bed, beneath the mattress, and connected both to a display device at the edge of the bed and to a call light system. In a contactless manner, i.e. without touching the body, the monitor records and analyses the patient’s minutest movements, evaluates these and displays the measured values on a small screen at the end of the bed. The computer evaluation also allows staff to efficiently plan and document further care. As the “electronic assistant” is also highly suitable for recording sleep patterns and it supports medication dosage verification, it is used not only in nursing homes and hospitals, but also in rehabilitation clinics.
About Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
As an interdisciplinary research institute within the ETH Domain, Empa conducts cutting-edge materials science and technology development. Empa’s R&D activities focus on meeting the requirements of industry and the needs of society, and thus link applications-oriented research to the practical implementation of new ideas. Through an efficient technology transfer Empa is turning research results into marketable innovations. For further information on Empa, please visit www.empa.ch
About Debiopharm Group™
Debiopharm Group™ (Debiopharm) is a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs. The Group in-licenses promising compounds, develops them and then, towards the end of the process, out-licenses them to partners in the pharmaceutical industry for global sales and marketing. The Group finances the worldwide development of all its products independently. In order to develop synergies with its core business, Debiopharm invests in start-ups, mainly in the field of molecular diagnostics due to the growing importance of personalised medicine, and also in other areas that give it the opportunity to promote entrepreneurship. For further information on Debiopharm Group™, please visit www.debiopharm.com.
About Zürcher Kantonalbank
Zürcher Kantonalbank is the leading universal bank in the Zurich region, focusing on the national market. Zürcher Kantonalbank invests through its bank-owned Venture-Fund Pionier every year risk capital in about 20 start-up companies in the Zurich economic area. By doing so Zürcher Kantonalbank assists the transfer of ideas into economy. www.zkb.ch