I can already hear what you’re thinking: “Haven’t I already read an article with this title?” That is a valid question, since we have posted a separate article on the top 10 questions to ask when choosing a Research and Development company. However, this article is part two. If you haven’t already, make sure to read the first part here. In this part two, we will be answering more questions that will help you choose the right R&D company for you.
Let’s start with a recap. Here are the 10 questions we suggest inventors consider when evaluating R&D groups for their projects.
What are the specialties of the R&D group and do they align with the project goals?
What career disciplines are employed by the R&D group?
What are the predicted turnaround times for low-fidelity device prototypes?
What are the predicted turnaround times for device commercialization?
Does the R&D group offer financial funding assistance or shares of equity?
Does the R&D group provide regulatory guidance?
Does the R&D group maintain manufacturing connections internationally and domestically?
Does the R&D group outsource prototyping? Can they prototype real prototypes in color? Do they use over-mold prototyping?
Does the R&D group charge at cost or do they charge a margin for development work?
Do the engineers test the device hands-on, in dry-lab or wet-lab surgery environments?
How often do their engineers go to manufacturing?
Does the R&D group offer marketing, distribution, and/or sales solutions for product launch?
These are all important questions to contemplate before signing up with a R&D company to make sure your project is a priority and will be brought to the market in a timely manner.
Now that you’ve read up on some suggested questions for your R&D group, we’d like to highlight some of the key services Vita Group provides to our inventors. Here are 3 major services Vita Group offers that are crucial to the quick, affordable, and quality development of medical device products.
What are the predicted turnaround times for device commercialization?
The standard timeline for commercialization of a device in the R&D industry is far too long. It usually takes 7 to 10 years which is ultimately a waste of time and money. Inventors have to raise millions of dollars to see the day their project comes to the market. It takes so long because there is no incentive for engineers to meet fastpaced deadlines because they are only hired on until the project is ready for manufacturing.
Vita Group recognizes this extensive timeline as an issue in the R&D industry. That’s why our goal is to bring projects to market as fast as possible. We standardize all projects to fit a 6 month timeline from Phase 0-Phase 1 while providing regulatory costs/pathway, IP analysis, COGs manufacturing (international or domestic), a business plan/business strategy, and prototypes (version 1 to version 10). If inventors continue to work with us in Phase 2-Phase 5, we estimate 2 years or less to bring the project to commercialization, depending on the project. At Vita Group, we are motivated, efficient, and dedicated to bringing inventors and their projects success, and with our aggressive and driven mindset, we achieve our goal of fast development.
Does the R&D group offer financial funding assistance or shares of equity?
A huge part of bringing a project to the market is having the money to do it. It takes a lot of funding to bring projects to commercialization, and that’s why it’s so important to find a R&D company to offer financial funding assistance. However, there are no other R&D companies that will help with funding, so the responsibility falls into the inventor’s lap. Add it to the long list of everything else the inventor has to worry about.
Fortunately, Vita Group offers a solution to the funding problem. We partner with inventors to bring capital dollars to their project. At the end of Phase 0-Phase 1, we present a project to our network of inventors, investors, and partnered doctors to provide seed funding solutions. We integrate financial assistance into our business plan because we know funding is a super important step for a project’s success.
Does the R&D group offer marketing, distribution, and/or sales solutions for product launch?
Distribution is the last step to bringing your project to the market and one of the hardest steps of development. Once your project is ready for distribution, it’s standard for the R&D company to send the project back to the inventor with the responsibility of distribution, fulfillment, and hiring a sales team. A sales team will implement sales, provide storage for products, and market your product. This is another added step to the already long development process, and it can be difficult to find the right sales team for your project.
This is where Vita Group comes to the rescue. Instead of searching elsewhere for selling and marketing, we take currently developed products and transfer that information to our plug-and-play sales team, Vita Solutions. We train our sales team on the project's usage and specifics so they are experts and can achieve efficient distribution. Vita Solutions introduces the project to doctors across the country, enabling a quick startup for distribution.
It can be overwhelming to choose a R&D company that is right for your project. There are a lot of different factors to consider, but we hope you’ve found some valuable advice in this article.
Are you ready to learn more about developing your innovative medical device ideas?
Book a call to meet with our CEO Jason Scherer.
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