A Conversation with Seguro Surgical

Seguro Surgical's mission is to reduce health care costs while improving patient safety. Our first product for major abdominal surgery is based on technology licensed from Johns Hopkins.

Profile By: Lauren Nelson and Richard Morgan

You mentioned that Seguro has a fast "go to market" strategy, could you share the steps the you have taken to implement this?

 Part of executing a fast "go to market" strategy is selecting the right technology -- i.e. medical devices fit the strategy, as well as 510K products.  Executing a fast "go to market" strategy is based on identifying critical steps on the commercialization pathway and then determining means to reduce the time on the critical path.  Some of these acceleration steps for Seguro have been outsourcing of the manufacturing and discovering rapid regulatory pathways.

Whats next for your company?   

Seguro currently is refinning our manufactured device and will be launching our product at a College of Surgeon's meeting in May.  This will be 9 months from license to market.  Going forward we will be educating the marketplace on the value of our product and ramping up sales.  

The Seguro team is looking at other medical device technologies in the surgical space for future expansion.

How did you go about selecting the IP and working with the University? 

Seguro Surgical is part of FirstStage Bioventures, LLC.  The partners of FirstStage have multiple points of connection with the univeristy and its technology transfer office.  We had seen and vetted a number of technologies that we became aware of this via the tech transfer office, Hopkins BioMatch events, and department connections.  Negotiating the license was straightforward and took about 6 weeks from start of due diligence to signing of license.   

How did you meet, choose, and assemble your team of founders?   

Founders of Seguro Surgical are partners of FirstStage Bioventures, LLC.  FirstStage was formed about two years ago and many of the partners know each other from previous companies.  The management team was selected based on expertise in the medical device space, expertise in specific disciplines and prior senior management roles in related ventures.

What advice do you have for Hopkins entrepreneurs wishing to create their own spin-outs?

The world of business is very different from the world of research.  Good technology is an important enabler for  technology based ventures, but venture management expertise is key to securing investment and executing the business plan.  I would advise Hopkins entreperneeurs to seek an experienced business entrepreneur that is willing to work with them to grow  a successful venture.