The pharmaceutical company Sensidose has developed and markets a method for personalized treatment of Parkinson's disease in the advanced phase, so-called failure phase or fluctuation phase. In November 2022, Philip Slätis took office as COO and Vice President of the company to accelerate business development and continued international expansion. 100 days into the role, BioStock took the opportunity to get to know Sensidose's Vice President and hear more about the company's growth plans.
Parkinson's disease is a neurological, lifelong disease caused by the breakdown of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. The lack of dopamine causes impaired movement, stiff muscles and tremors, as well as some non-motor symptoms such as constipation, low blood pressure and depression. The standard treatment for Parkinson's disease has been levodopa since the 1960s.
Individual and user-friendly treatment of Parkinson's disease
Stockholm-based Sensidose has developed a system for individual, finely titrated treatment of Parkinson's disease. The company's microtablets Flexilife contains a small dose of levodopa, which allows the total dose to be adapted to each patient's needs by adjusting the number of tablets given. Flexilev is dosed with the proprietary electronic dose dispenser MyFID.
The company is also developing a new mechanical dosing aid, ORAFID, as an alternative to the digital dosing device MyFID. OraFID is completely mechanical, has no battery and is a disposable package that can dispense a number of tablets set by the patient.
Sensidose currently sells its products in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and is also planning to expand to more markets, primarily Finland and Poland in the near future. At the same time, the company is investing in reaching more patients in existing markets.
Sensidose's vice president in 100 days on the job
As BioStock previously reported took over as Sensidose's Vice President and COO in November last year. 100 days into the role, we took the opportunity to get to know him.
After 100 days on the job as Sensidose's Vice President, have Sensidose's expansion opportunities begun to crystallize?
– I now have a fairly clear picture of what Sensidose will look like in a couple of years, which I also share with our CEO and board. The goal, as previously clarified, is to focus on growth in both existing and new markets. The expansion also applies to new products and new dispensing devices.
Sensidose currently has seven employees; do you expect to grow your workforce?
– In addition to a small core group of employees, we rely heavily on hired skills. My impression is that the entire industry has been moving towards hiring key personnel for a long time. There are often very specific needs for a limited time and it is difficult for small but also for larger companies to attract employees who can cover all needs.
– We will rather focus on having access to adequate resources rather than growing with our own employees. Then it is about being an attractive employer and a partner that other companies want to work with.
What do you think are Sensidose's strengths as a company?
– Sensidose's success is rooted in innovative power and many years of hard work close to customers. With a small organization, they have still managed to develop and launch the world's first microtablet for Parkinson's disease, with an approved, functioning dispenser. The patents for this are our core. Then the staff has managed to launch the product and handle all the practicalities, regulatory issues, market access, logistics, marketing and service. It's impressive.
What is Sensidose's next step?
– International expansion! In the last two years, the company has launched in Norway and Denmark. But the goal has always been to reach a much wider audience with the treatment. Globally, Parkinson's disease is estimated to be the second most common of the so-called neurodegenerative diseases, after Alzheimer's, and the need for alternative treatment methods is great.
– Since Parkinson's primarily affects an older population, more and more people will be affected. Our own organization does not have the ability to effectively launch the product in more markets, so for some time now, intensive discussions have been underway about collaboration with larger players, both in Europe and the USA. The goal is to establish a partnership where Sensidose continues to work on product development, while partners establish the product in new markets.
Sensidose has had the product on the market for a few years now, why is it only now that you are taking the step into the world?
– Until now, we have had a limitation in how many dispensing devices we have been able to deliver, so we have had to fully meet the demand in Scandinavia. Now we have solved the capacity shortage. That is the explanation for why expansion has been delayed. Since I was hired, this has also been my explicit focus, which is of course required to get collaborations in place.
Is there anything new happening besides the market expansion at Sensidose?
– We have a couple of new projects in our pipeline and through collaborations we can focus on these and secure funding to bring them to market. The new projects are both about technology development and drug development. The technology is being developed with improvements to the electronic dispenser, as well as a completely new version with the mechanical dispenser that we hope to launch later this year. A lot of work is also being spent on testing and certification according to the new MDR directive.
Looking ahead, can Sensidose technology also treat diseases other than Parkinson's?
– The company is looking at using the patented microtablets for other diseases where accurate dosing and individual adaptation are important. Our patented technology is actually about something very simple. Because each microtablet contains a fraction of a dose, the number of tablets allows you to adjust the dose very specifically and individually to each patient's individual needs. It is a technology that has many potential applications.
Learn more about Sensidose here.
