BrainCool has developed products for early and rapid cooling (hyperthermia) with controlled temperature regulation of various disease conditions.
RhinoChill System and BrainCool System (marketed as IQool System in the USA) is used for the treatment of stroke and sudden cardiac arrest. With the portable rapid cooling system RhinoChill, early and rapid cooling is first achieved, which is then followed by continuous cooling with the BrainCool System.
In its product pipeline, BrainCool also has Coral System, for the treatment of oral mucositis, a serious side effect of chemotherapy.
Two new agreements in the USA
At the end of last week, BrainCool announced that it has signed agreements with the two largest organizations regarding the purchase of healthcare products in the US, vicious and Premier Inc.. These nationwide companies control purchasing processes for several hospital systems in the country with a total of approximately 800 hospital beds. BrainCool has had an agreement with the third largest purchasing organization since 000 Health Trust.
Comments from the CEO
To learn more about the significance of the new agreements and how they may affect BrainCool's operations in the long term, BioStock contacted the company's CEO. Martin Waleij.
Martin, you now have agreements with the three largest players in the US. How much of the US healthcare market do you now have access to?
– We estimate the number of intensive care hospitals that require our systems to be in the range of 7–8000 hospitals and many of them handle purchasing solely through a GPO (Group Purchasing Organization). Healthtrust, which BrainCool has been working with for about two years, covers 1500 hospitals. Premiere, for its part, covers 2 hospitals and Vizient, which is the largest GPO, reaches even more.
– BrainCool has previously been limited to a smaller part of the market, but now that we are aiming to become a market leader in collaboration with ZOLL, as much as 70–80 percent of the business could be done through a GPO. So that is a very big step.
What does the process look like for the purchasing organizations for hospitals and how do they work?
– By being able to process GPOs for their members, we can get bigger deals and facilitate the implementation of our product on a larger scale. We can come and present at the monthly meetings they have for their respective hospital chains, thereby significantly reducing order lead times.
What role has your partner ZOLL played in securing the agreements?
– It has made it easier, we have had Premiere on the hook for a while, but there is no doubt that the product is now in a stronger position. In comparison, it took Bonesupport, another Swedish medtech company, about 15 years after FDA approval to establish its first GPO Healthtrust. It was only after they landed Premiere that it really took off.
– We received FDA approval four years ago and have now managed to establish a strong platform with the three largest GPOs in the US, and that is how BrainCool should be viewed.
What do the agreements mean for the continued rollout of the IQool System in the USA?
– It is essential. Until now, we simply have not reached a large part of the market, but with ZOLL behind us, we have the resources to cover the entire market. This means that we can truly take on the task of making IQool the market leader in the US.
– Once again, Bonesupport can be seen as a reference as the company's business has gained significant momentum after they established agreements with two of these players.
In a press release, you stated that the agreements could also accelerate the establishment of your oncology product Cooral System. How do you reason then?
– Of course, we cannot conclude GPO agreements before the pricing strategy for the Cooral System is nailed down, which requires that the reimbursement levels are determined. However, with the signed agreements, we have put Cooral System on the agenda of all three GPOs. For example, we have already started defining a new code/category for our product with Healthtrust. The step with the unique CPT 3 code makes it even easier.
– We have established agreements at lightning speed for IQool and the conditions for Cooral are therefore very good, as we can benefit from all the work we have already put into IQool. In the long run, the same also applies to our projects within stroke.