Danish company RSP Systems selected Innokas Medical to develop a prototype for a non-invasive glucose monitoring device that has global market potential.

As part of its Scandinavian growth strategy, Innokas Medical has in recent years particularly focused on the growth company segment, resulting in new customers not only from Finland, but also from Norway and Sweden. The partnership with innovative Danish company RSP Systems now completes a hat-trick of the Scandinavian countries and is a significant step in developing Innokas’ position on the Nordic market. The development of RSP’s GlucoBeam® product offers exciting possibilities for the future.

“We primarily focus on medical devices and IVD segments in the Scandinavian market. There is a lot of funding for startups in the medical sector especially in Denmark and Sweden, which means many potential customers for us. In the RSP Systems case, our co-creation capabilities matched their needs really well,” explains Jouni Toijala, CEO at Innokas Medical.

Founded in 1994, Innokas Medical is a medical technology company whose service offering covers the entire path of bringing new medical products to the market, including product development, contract manufacturing, and quality and regulatory services. Innokas Medical has the required ISO certificates and FDA registration as well as international experience with global companies like GE Healthcare which is, for example, distributing a wireless vital signs patient monitor, Carescape VC150, developed in cooperation between Innokas Medical and GE Healthcare, and manufactured by Innokas.

Long-term experience pays off

Innokas Medical first made contact with RSP Systems in October 2015 after travelling to Odense, Denmark, to participate in the annual WHINN - Week of Health and Innovation event, where Finpro regularly promotes Finnish healthtech companies.

“RSP Systems did not attend the event but was located in Odense, so we took the opportunity to visit them. By the time we met again six months later, RSP had good results from their research and were already thinking about developing and productizing the next version of the device,” says Antti Virtanen, Account Manager at Innokas Medical.

In May 2017, RSP Systems selected Innokas Medical to produce a prototype of the GlucoBeam® device, working on its overall mechanical design and electronics.

“We chose Innokas Medical because of its long-term experience with the design and manufacturing of medical devices,” says Stefan O. Banke, co-founder and CTO of RSP Systems.

“We have found that there is a good understanding of RSP’s needs and a willingness to be flexible when needed. It is a really difficult project to take on and needs a high level of communication between the two parties.”

Aiming for a global breakthrough

The number of people suffering from diabetes globally is currently 450 million and growing. According to Virtanen, about two hundred FDA applications for non-invasive glucose measurement have been rejected over the years, so the success of the GlucoBeam® product would represent a major breakthrough.

The technology behind GlucoBeam® is based on Raman spectroscopy which enables the painless monitoring of diabetes patients’ glucose levels by measuring the tissue fluid surrounding the cells of the body.

“Nobody is satisfied with the current invasive technology, so non-invasive glucose monitoring is extremely attractive,” explains Banke.

Export support from Finpro

Thanks to the matchmaking opportunities organised at WHINN, Innokas Medical has also made other business contacts in Denmark and already participated in some tenders. The company has also taken part in other international trade fairs as part of Team Finland’s joint stand for Finnish companies, organised by Finpro’s Health sector growth program.

“It’s always good to take part in Finpro’s events and also to see who else is in the region. We have recently participated in Finpro’s very useful training on productization, training on new pricing models, and sales training in Germany,” says Virtanen.

Taking advantage of the events and services offered by Finpro brings more opportunities to find the strategic partnerships and long-term cooperation that enable sustained export growth.