Good science is not necessarily good business

What does it take for breakthrough science to become a company that reaches patients?

Our own Frank Jaskulke took on that question as a panelist on the contract development and manufacturing session at the Minnesota Neuromodulation Symposium. His answer: good science is not necessarily good business.

For a founder, that is not a knock on your science. It means a fundable, buildable company needs more than a working prototype. It needs a problem worth solving, a development plan that reduces risk, funders who see a return and partners who want the same outcome you do.

Below are four insights we shared on the panel and what they may mean for your next few quarters.

Technology alone is not a business

Your technology matters, and it is usually where a medtech startup begins. A business takes something more: the technology must be applied to something that matters clinically and financially.

Clinically, that often means a clinician or patient can see a meaningful difference compared with what they use today. Financially, it means someone can and will pay for it, whether that is a hospital, a health system, a payer or the patient. A device can be elegant and still struggle if one of those pieces is missing.

You can test this early without spending money. Try writing two sentences: the clinical problem your technology solves and who pays for the solution. If either sentence is hard to write, that is useful information while your design is still flexible.

Product development is its own discipline

Research and product development can look similar from the outside, since both involve prototypes, testing and data. But product development is not scientific research. It is reduction to practice, documentation, risk reduction and proving it works. Research often asks whether something is possible. Product development must show it can be built, trusted and used.

Each of those adds work a lab may not be set up for:

• Reduction to practice: turning a concept into a design that can be built the same way every time
• Documentation: recording design decisions and test results so others can review and trust them
• Risk reduction: finding what could go wrong for patients and users and addressing it in the design
• Proving it works: generating evidence that the device does what you claim for the people who will use it

For a regulated device, much of this documentation may become part of the record regulators and investors ask to see. Starting it early often costs less than rebuilding it later. A practical first step can be a simple, dated log of design decisions and the test results behind them.

Investors want impact and a return

Many investors want to change the world, but they must make money doing it. Both halves shape how they hear your pitch.

Not every funder needs a financial return. Grant programs and other non-dilutive sources, meaning funding that does not cost you equity, have their own expectations, and each still wants to know what its money will make possible. A pitch that leads only with the science may leave a funder to connect the impact to a return on their own.

You can make that connection for them. Show the clinical need, the path to market, what milestone this money gets you to and what risk that milestone removes.

Suppliers can be partners in the mission

Contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) and other suppliers are easy to treat as vendors you bring in once the design is done. Many suppliers are in this industry because they love the science and the impact, too. It is not all about the money.

A supplier who understands the clinical problem may bring ideas about materials, assembly or testing that make a device easier and less costly to build. Those conversations tend to be most useful before a design is locked.

Treat early supplier conversations as a two-way exchange. Share what the device is for and who it helps, and ask what they would change to make it easier to manufacture.

The common thread: align the science and the business early

Strong science is necessary, but it reaches patients only when it lines up with a clinical need, a disciplined development plan, a funder’s goals and a partner’s ability to build it.

When the science and the money align, you can change the world. That alignment is often easier while design, evidence and partner choices are still open.

Much of the startup medtech consulting work we do sits at this intersection, helping teams connect a promising technology to a plan that clinicians, funders and suppliers can get behind.

Good science gets you to the lab bench. Good business gets you to the patient.

If the clinical problem and who pays for it were hard to pin down, reach out to talk through how we can help your team take flight.

FAQ

What is the difference between medical device research and product development?

Research typically explores whether an idea is possible. Product development turns that idea into a design that can be built consistently, documented, tested for risk and proven to work for its intended users. The shift often requires new skills, processes and partners.

Why do some medical technologies with strong science fail as businesses?

A technology may work well but address a problem clinicians do not prioritize, or lack a clear way to be paid for. Without both clinical value and a financial model, it can be hard to attract funding and adoption.

What do investors look for in a medtech startup?

Many investors look for a meaningful clinical need, a credible path to market and a realistic way to generate a return. They often want to see how each round of funding reduces risk and moves the company toward a key milestone.

What is a CDMO in medical devices?

A contract development and manufacturing organization typically helps companies design, develop and produce medical devices. Many startups use CDMOs to access engineering, manufacturing and quality capabilities they do not have in-house. Some CDMOs focus on specific device types, materials or stages of development.

When should a medtech startup involve a manufacturing partner?

Involving a manufacturing partner before the design is finalized can help identify materials, assembly or testing changes that make a device easier and less costly to build. Later changes are often more expensive and time-consuming because they may require redesign and retesting.