We are thrilled to announce the official opening of our newest MedTech Actuator office in Osaka, Japan!
The opening ceremony was held at JAMBASE, an innovation facility in Grand Green Osaka, a large redevelopment district on the north side of JR Osaka Station, where the office is located.
To celebrate this new beginning, we held a traditional Kagami-biraki sake-barrel ceremony, welcoming friends and partners from across Japan to join us in this exciting moment.
The night began with welcome notes by MedTech Actuator CEO, Dr Buzz Palmer, and CSO & Co-founder, Prof Vishaal Kishore.
“Healthcare innovation cannot exist without an ecosystem (where new technologies continue to be created). We will strengthen our commitment to Japan.” – Prof. Vishaal Kishore
The night’s proceedings also included further speeches from key partners:
Mr Toru Takahashi – Deputy Mayor of Osaka
Mr Shingo Torii – Chairperson of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) (Vice Chairman of Suntory Holdings)
Mr Sho Hideki – Director General, JETRO
This office opening marks a significant milestone in the MedTech Actuator’s journey, as we formally transition into the Japanese market after spending the past three years building significant relationships, programs, and a strong presence here.
We have developed a local team on the ground and are committed to deepening our roots in Japan and continuing to foster innovation in the health and medical sectors.
Over the coming months, we will be announcing new initiatives for global startups to access Japan in 2025. We are excited about the future and are eager to collaborate with the incredible talent Japan has to offer.
The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) signs MOU with MedTech Actuator (Australia)
To Build a Commercialization Ecosystem as Legacy of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai
Osaka as hub for Japan and East Asia, more intensive support for medical and health startups
On Friday, March 15, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) is going to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MedTech Actuator – headquartered in Melbourne, Australia – to further expand their partnership.
MedTech Actuator is a global accelerator supporting startups in the medical, biotech and health fields. As Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai approaches, medical and health businesses are drawing more attention, and there will be an increasing number of opportunities for startups to gather in Osaka.
Amid such situation, recognizing Osaka as a hub for Japan and East Asia, both sides will work together to build an ecosystem for startups in the medical and health fields, which will then last as legacy of the expo, by using MedTech Actuator’s expertise on startup acceleration and OCCI’s experiences and networks across Japan in promoting medical-engineering collaboration and commercialization.
The partnership will provide programs for commercialization in Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne, etc. to support startups from Japan and other countries.
MedTech Actuator will also prepare for opening of their base in Osaka, where an international pitch competition in medical and health is planned to take place for the first time in 2025.
Summary of the MOU
The OCCI and MedTech Actuator agree to cooperate and complement each other and jointly work to discover startups across the Asia-Pacific region and other regions of the world and support them to accelerate commercialization in global markets by making the most of medical and health support programs that each party has.
Significance of the MOU
Startups in medical and health will receive support to determine their best exit strategy looking across global markets, thereby growing up to be a globally competitive company. Osaka will work as a hub for Japan and East Asia, and a global startup support ecosystem is expected to be built in the future through reinforced networks of ecosystem hubs located the world.
About the MedTech Actuator
A nonprofit organization that globally supports startups in the medical and health fields. Headquartered in Australia, MedTech Actuator has profound expertise and networks to provide startups with the best exit strategy in global markets. They have supported 200+ health startups, raised more than $750 million and placed 20 products/services in the market.
Support Programs for Startups in Japan
ORIGIN
Education and pitch program for early-stage startups including those in idea-stage
GLOBAL NAVIGATOR
Program that helps small and medium-sized companies aiming to expand their business overseas
FathomX is a digital health AI startup that started as a spin-off from the National University of Singapore and the National University Health System, that aims to develop a range of AI technologies in the field of breast cancer. The startup develops knowledge, capabilities and value through collaborations with research and healthcare institutions, deployment and teleradiology partners as well as picture archiving and communication systems (PACS).
Breast Cancer is one of the world’s top disease burdens and in many countries, it is the Number 1 killer among women. FathomX started out as a research project in a global competition – The Dream Challenge organised by the United States Whitehouse, to identify AI Technologies that could help enhance the clinical process of breast cancer screening.
As the top Asian team in the global Dream Challenge Competition, the founders Professor Mikael Hartman and Professor Feng Meng Ling decided to spin off the company with the support of NUS Enterprise. Since the competition, the AI model has progressed tremendously in its predictive accuracy, and refinement and users’ preferences are incorporated and continuously upgraded to meet differing and progressing needs. The solution is known as FxMammo™ and has been regulatory approved in Singapore and Thailand with more countries in the regulatory approval process. At the end of 2020, Stephen Lim got involved in FathomX to help the company develop a business plan and raised seed funds for regulatory applications. In mid-2022, Stephen came on board full-time as the Chief Executive Officer to lead the company in the next stage of development in commercialisation.
As any other deep tech novel technology company, FathomX faced a number of challenges during its commercialising journey such as regulatory compliance, availability of quality data and other factors in the commercialisation process.
As digital health startups, startups need to comply with the regulatory framework for medical devices, which includes safety, efficacy, and quality standards. Developers of AI software as a medical device need to ensure that their product meets the standards set by regulatory bodies. To do so, the FathomX team worked with high-quality partners and consultants to obtain the regulatory approvals needed.
Another challenge the FathomX team faced was the Data quality and availability. AI systems depend on data to train the AI to achieve greater accuracy. For AI software as a medical device, the data used to train and test the algorithm must be of high quality and relevance. Obtaining access to sufficient and diverse data can be challenging, especially when dealing with sensitive medical information. As a company, however, FathomX managed to set up several high-value partnerships to develop and validate a high-quality model which is of a high accuracy level. They have also chosen to work with top universities and hospitals in 8 Asia Pacific regions to prove that their AI is accurate and relevant in those territories, including Australia, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. One such high-value partnership that they established was with the National Cancer Centre in Japan which is a leading cancer research institute.
When commercialising the product, finding the right partners and supporters is extremely crucial to test bed and deploying a solution, especially across multiple jurisdictions. The task is more challenging for a small startup. The FathomX team had managed to tap into strong business expertise and networks in order to set up high-value partners, distributors and deployment partners to quickly get their solution to market.
Product integration within healthcare systems and its benefits
FxMammo integrates with and is deployed in healthcare systems through a range of methods including direct integration with Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS), integration through a platform provider, direct integration into a hospital as well as cloud deployment.
FathomX’s AI-powered solution, FxMammo used for breast cancer screening.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and it is doubling in numbers by each successive generation in Asia. Successful treatment requires reliable early screening and detection, which involves difficult-to-read mammograms. The need for a reliable, easy-to-access solution that addresses the low ratio of radiologists to mammography screening needs for breast cancer, is both urgent and tremendous.
In developed countries with good healthcare systems, breast cancers discovered at Stage 1 have more than 90% survival rate. The number is reduced to below 20% at Stage 4. The key is early discovery. The standard recommended by WHO is once every 2 years mammography screening for women between 40 to 75 years old.
For women going for breast cancer screening, FathomX’s AI technology solution has been demonstrated to lead to fewer false recalls, unnecessary anxiety due to long waiting times at the current screening rate and fewer missed cancer diagnosis leading to more opportunities for early diagnostics. Their solution will augment the current shortage of mammography radiologists around the world and provide greater efficiency to their work processes. The main value of their AI technology is its ability to function as a radiological computer-assisted detection and diagnostic software intended to aid in the detection of breast cancer from acquired mammography images.
This solution provides key benefits at the clinician level as the radiologists who deal with mammogram image analysis can now have an accurate AI Assistant that can help with their workflow. The FathomX team are working with some hospitals to study the effectiveness and impact of AI deployed to assist trainees and new radiologists in reading mammogram images. For patients, the benefits are higher accuracy in breast cancer screening and shorter waiting times when they go for screening.
The solution also serves as an assistant for clinicians and is deployed through a range of methods including direct integration with the Picture Archiving Communication System.
Experience with the MedTech Actuator Global Navigator Australia
The FathomX team utilized the Global Navigator Australia program to gain a deeper understanding and validate their knowledge of the Australian medtech innovation ecosystem, including the business, reimbursement, corporate, and regulatory landscapes. Their goal was to identify relevant partners to aid in commercializing and accessing the Australian market, specifically in areas related to their product.
Over the past year, FathomX experienced significant growth across multiple fronts, including expanding their team, raising Pre-Series A funding, testing and deploying their product in various settings, obtaining regulatory approvals in different jurisdictions, and conducting clinical validation studies to demonstrate their accuracy and value in different settings.
Global Navigator provided a valuable opportunity for FathomX to meet with Breakthrough Victoria, universities, and hospitals to explore potential opportunities. FathomX highly recommends the MedTech Actuator to medtech startups interested in entering the Australian market.
“The program was a quick summary of the Australian healthcare landscape in a very short period of time which was extremely crucial for a business looking to enter the Australian healthcare market”.
FxMammo, FathomX’s product, is currently approved for use in Singapore and Thailand. The company is collaborating with partners, distributors, and regulatory bodies to gain approval in various regions worldwide and aims to scale the technology to over ten overseas markets in the next 2-3 years.
To learn more about the startup and its latest milestones, visit FathomX’s website.
Expression of interest now open for Global Navigator Melbourne
Calling all passionate founders and startups to grow their venture and transform global healthcare with the MedTech Actuator Global Navigator Melbourne.
MedTech Actuator Global Navigator Melbourne 2023 is an intensive growth-stage innovation program that enables healthcare startups to enter and explore the Australian Market through Melbourne.
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