Chordate Medical’s CEO on the marketing and sales plans
2022 is expected to be a very important and exciting year for medtech company Chordate Medical, according to CEO Anders Weilandt’s statement in the year-end report. The company is fully committed on pursuing the market plan for 2022, for both the migraine and the rhinitis treatments, but with stronger focus on migraine. They also aim to add one or more new markets during the year. BioStock contacted Weilandt to find out more about the marketing plans and his expectations for sales in 2022.
Chordate Medical has developed a nerve-stimulating treatment method, Kinetic Oscillation Stimulation (K.O.S), for the treatment of chronic migraine and nasal congestion (rhinitis). The vibrations of the K.O.S treatment stimulate the nerves in the mucous membranes in the nose, which is believed to affect the autonomic nervous system. A study is currently underway with K.O.S in Germany and Finland to evaluate the preventive effect of treatment on chronic migraine.
The migraine treatment was CE-marked in 2021 and Chordate Medical was thus able to launch on selected markets. In 2022, Chordate will continue with this market introduction work, with an as effective approach as possible, according to CEO Anders Weilandt in the year-end report:
»The ambition is to find an approach that is highly effective and has the best possible control at as low a cost as possible. As previously communicated, we have the ambition to add more favorable markets to the market plan.«
Additional markets – The UK is next
Chordate Medical is also aiming to add one or more markets during the year, as was proven recently when the company was able to announce that the UK is the next target market for the K.O.S migraine treatment. A market analysis, conducted by the consulting firm Futures.Health (FH), has identified the appropriate approach for the UK market introduction with the migraine treatment. FH is now ready to start introducing the treatment to leading neurologists in private health care and then also the publicly financed specialist care.
Chordate Medical is also collaborating with the American consulting company RQM+ to reach market approval in the US with the migraine treatment. A pre-study is currently being conducted to identify the right approach for a marketing authorisation application to the FDA. The pre-study is expected to be completed during the first quarter.
Completion and reporting of the migraine study
To support the marketing and sales activities in the migraine indication, Chordate Medical will also focus on completing and presenting the results of the ongoing migraine study. The people responsible for the trial are making the assessment that the last patient can start treatment during the first quarter and then follows a 10-week period before the patient’s participation in the trial is completed. This should mean that a scientific article with the study results can be completed in the third quarter of this year, according to the company.
The sales work for the rhinitis treatment continues
Chordate Medical will not, however, put all its focus on the migraine indication in 2022 – sales work for the company’s rhinitis treatment is also progressing. The focus is mainly on Italy and Saudi Arabia, where pandemic restrictions are now being eased.
In addition, the company’s joint venture partner Nanos Medical has resumed the product registration process for the rhinitis treatment in China, with the goal of obtaining market approval in 2023.
Financed for the rest of the year
In summary, Chordate Medical has a lot going on in 2022, which they seem to be prepared for financially. The current cash position is expected to be sufficient to finance the company’s plans for 2022 and part of 2023, according to the company’s CEO. At year-end, their cash balance amounted to 29 MSEK.
The cash position was strengthened in October thanks to strong support from the shareholders in the redemption of warrants TO7. The exercise period for TO7 ended in October and a total of 99.23 percent of the warrants were redeemed. Chordate Medical thereby received SEK 35.6 million before issue costs. The capital injection enabled Chordate to repay a bridge loan of SEK 7.125 million to five of the company’s major shareholders.
The CEO about the sales in 2022
According to the Q4 report, net turnover amounted to 0.4 MSEK in the fourth quarter and 0.8 MSEK for the full year. The revenue is derived from sale of systems and treatments in Sweden, Saudi Arabia, China and Italy.
To find out more about Chordate Medical’s sales and marketing plans, BioStock contacted Anders Weilandt.
Anders, were the sales figures for 2021 in line with your expectations?
– Yes, I would say they were in line with our expectations. We are still in early stage and have of course also been affected by the pandemic.
How would you create conditions for a good sales development in 2022?
– By supporting our marketing partners in their sales activities in every possible way. Much is about introducing our product end customers with well-founded arguments. Here we can make a clear difference.
Finally, are Chordate Medical’s market introductions and study activities in any way affected by the current situation in Europe?
– We have not seen any impact so far, neither for our production or customers.
The content of BioStock’s news and analyses is independent but the work of BioStock is to a certain degree financed by life science companies. The above article concerns a company from which BioStock has received financing.
