Health-2-Market advanced services - Individually tailored commercialization services

A significant offer of Health-2-Market was the provision of twenty free of charge, advanced, individually tailored commercialisation services to selected health research projects to help researchers move their commercialisation cases and ideas a concrete step further towards successful valorisation. All cases were performed by experts of the H2M project consortium and by design, the services covered different phases in the process of commercialisation of a research project.

Description of advanced services proposed

1. Application mapping and highlighting: With this service, potential areas of application on the market as well as specific examples of application are identified. In addition, potential partners from industry and science within the previously identified application areas are listed and the applicability of the invention in identified application areas is evaluated. Results are summarized in a conclusive presentation.
2. Patent evaluation: With this service, the commercialization potential of individual patents or a patent portfolio is analysed and the relative value of the researcher’s patent(-s) is determined. An evaluation along the three critical axes technology (technology advancement, technical sophistication, technology cogency etc.), commerce (forward-/backward citation value, enforcement potential, partnering potential, crowdedness, competitive position etc.) and legal criteria (novelty, relevancy, claims, invalidities etc.) is performed. Furthermore the most similar patents can be ranked by relevancy which helps to identify potential patent buyers or licensing partners. The analysis is done with the help of specialized patent research software. Confer also the example in the addendum.
3. Market analysis: With this service we conduct a market analysis in a technology’s specific application fields. This helps to narrow down the potential areas of application of a technology to the most promising ones and to give a first insight into the market value of the technology. Applicants receive a qualified recommendation how to further proceed with their project. A minimum of 10 talks are conducted with relevant experts to discuss any issues with the technology and receive valuable feedback from the market side. An example is included in the addendum as well.
4. Business plan formulation: With this service, experienced and creative professionals from the H2M team work along with Health Researchers and Entrepreneurs in order to translate their venture into a comprehensive business plan for successful commercial deployment or access to capital. H2M experts help clients to make the best out of this service in order to ensure that their business plan thoroughly assesses and demonstrates in a rigorous manner the commercial viability of the proposed venture. The plan covers all aspects of the business and will typically cover a five year planning period with emphasis on the first 18-24 months.
5. Business plan evaluation: With this service, the business plan is analysed in detail and recommendations for optimization are given, taking into account the target group and purpose of the plan (e.g. banks, venture capital, own strategy, etc.). In particular, we scrutinize and check company purpose, problem definition, solution, timing, market size and dynamics, competition, product, business and revenue model, team composition, financials, as we all as overall presentation and layout.
6. European legislation, standardization and certification issues related to medical technology: This service consists of analysing the nature (basic characteristics and intended use) of the medical device under question, classifying it according to the directives’ classification, determining the applicable directives / standards / requirements, providing a roadmap (i.e. procedure, costs, time schedules, main production requirements, certification process etc) for the appropriate assessment / certification route and (in more mature cases and for already operational entities) providing support for obtaining certification according to quality management system standards.
7. Support in obtaining further EU funds: This service aids researchers and entrepreneurs by identifying relevant R&I EU funding, by finding the most appropriate funding action among the relevant EU programmes and subsequently by supporting them in all stages of proposal preparation, e.g. project conception, consortium identification, budgeting, editing and review, etc.
8. Access to finance: Through our services the Health-to-Market users are supported in approaching banks, financial intermediaries, etc. to benefit from new financial facilities that have been introduced by the EU in 2014.

Advanced services offered by country of beneficiary

Country	Service offered
CH	Market analysis
FR	Market analysis
IT	Patent evaluation
ES	Patent evaluation
CH	Business plan formulation
GR	European legislation, standardization and certification issues related to medical technology
DK	Market analysis
SE	Market analysis
FR	Market analysis
IT	Access to finance
HU	Business plan formulation
IT	Business plan formulation
UK	Market analysis
DE	Business plan formulation
AT	Access to finance
DE	Start up support
IT	Market analysis
IT	Access to finance
IT	Business plan formulation
IT	Market analysis

In order for this project's activity to benefit to the largest possible audience, a how-to guide on how to perform specific services has been developed. This guide gives interested parties the necessary tools and guidance to perform the services themselves and thus have much far greater impact with any commercialization projects. It is available here: http://www.health2market.eu/results/step-by-step-guide