Chordate Medical’s nerve stimulating treatment is currently being introduced in several markets around Europe as well as in Israel and Saudi Arabia. The company is working with marketing and sales activities to achieve measurable market shares for a future exit. BioStock reached out the company’s CEO Anders Weilandt to get an update.

Medtech company Chordate Medical has developed a nerve-stimulating and drug-free treatment for chronic migraine and chronic nasal congestion (rhinitis). The treatment is called Kinetic Oscillation Stimulation (K.O.S) and consists of a catheter, control unit and a vibrating balloon that is inserted into the patient’s nasal cavity. The K.O.S. treatment is performed by a doctor or nurse and takes only 25 minutes.

Investing in market introductions

The company has enlisted the help of market experts to introduce the migraine treatment in the UK, Germany, Finland and Israel. In addition, the distributors VEDISE Hospital SpA and Janin Medical Company processes the Italian and Saudi Arabian market. Chordate also has ongoing projects to obtain market authorization in the US and China.

In Finland, Chordate believes that they have already built an awareness in the market since they recently conducted the successful migraine study PM007 with K.O.S. at four Finnish clinics. In addition, the country has many private healthcare providers and established private health insurance solutions, which can make the way to market shorter and more manageable.

Strengthened cash position

The company recently strengthened its cash position by 37.3 MSEK through a rights issue and thus has sufficient capital to finance the continued marketing and sales work in the next step. In the annual report for 2022, CEO Anders Weilandt says that they have received good feedback when visiting different markets:

»During the many trips my colleagues and I have made recently to different countries and meetings in the field of migraines, I encounter everywhere a genuine interest from doctors in the clinical reality. I see in the response how significant our treatment method potentially could be on a global level.«

Anders Weilandt on the market potential

BioStock contacted Anders Weilandt to learn more about the progress in the marketing work.

Now we are a couple of months in 2023 – how would you describe the first months of the year?

– The Saudi distributor Janin got started right away after the New Year with an important congress. Now the regulatory authorisation for the rhinitis treatment have been transferred and we expect to soon be able to deliver the first devices. Ramadan ends in just over a week, after which we expect the migraine registration to be completed.

– In Italy, sales work is in full swing, and we receive reports of great interest from leading migraine doctors. For the UK and Germany, our marketing consultants work intensively with opinion leaders and have a good grasp of where to focus. Over time, this work will bear fruit.

»In Italy, sales work is in full swing, and we receive reports of great interest from leading migraine doctors. For the UK and Germany, our marketing consultants work intensively with opinion leaders and have a good grasp of where to focus. Over time, this work will bear fruit.«

You recently published a press release regarding the migraine market in Finland. What is the market potential for K.O.S. there?

– We believe that we have a favourable position and opportunity for early market shares in private occupational health care, which in Finland is much larger relative to Sweden and also provides a much broader range of care. We also have early support due to the fact that our migraine study was conducted by large private clinics in that segment. As the awareness of our migraine solution and study work begins to increase, we have also received feedback from large public healthcare providers.

»We believe that we have a favourable position and opportunity for early market shares in private occupational health care, which in Finland is much larger relative to Sweden and also provides a much broader range of care«

– Articles like the one about the market in Finland are a way for us to inform our shareholders and educate the stock market about the potential and mechanisms on each market where we are active. We will continue to inform the stock market about how our priority markets work so that they get a good basis for their investment.

How do the markets differ from each other? Are there any particular advantages or disadvantages in the market mechanisms in each market?

– Since we have already established reimbursement at the national level in Saudi both from private health insurance and from the Ministry of Health, Janin should be able to benefit from it relatively quickly. When it comes to reimbursement, we have undoubtedly come furthest there.

– VEDISE’s expertise and valuable network of contacts favours the sales in Italy, sometimes with local or regional reimbursement. Germany and the UK are large and difficult to process markets that are very bureaucratic – they take time to penetrate. However, once successful, this aspect actually acts as a protection against competition.

What are the biggest challenges that can prevent Chordate from succeeding in building measurable market shares?

– We have chosen to work with a few markets in order to focus our investments on marketing. But of course, you should remember that we are a small organisation with limited resources. It is important for us to be as efficient as possible. We have now finally obtained compelling evidence that the treatment method is an effective alternative for migraine treatment. Therefore, I do not see anything that could prevent us from succeeding in the long term.

»We have now finally obtained compelling evidence that the treatment method is an effective alternative for migraine treatment. Therefore, I do not see anything that could prevent us from succeeding in the long term.«

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