”Educating the world has taken some time”
The motivation behind Redsense Medical is to create a system that both detect and warns for life threatening blood leakage in connection with dialysis treatment, which is sometimes done during night. The warning device can be used multiple times, however there is a sterile sensor that needs to be replace for each use. The idea came from Daniel Engwall in 2000, when in one of his encounters with Halmstads hospital realized the issue with blood loss during dialysis treatments, and if the connection between the vanes and the dialysis machine is not sealed it can be the difference between life or death.
-Engwall’s team started to develop a solution with the help of optics. It’s still the same technology we use today, even though the product is a bit different now that it is on the market, says Patrik Byhmer which is the CEO and one of the largest shareholders in the company.
-The biggest advantage with the Redsense product is that it uses regular light to conduct the analysis. This will not affect the skin and will decrease the risk during treatment. This solution is patented which makes us unique in the rest of the world, Patrik continues.
Patrik Byhmer has a background within telecom where he was responsible for setting up sales channels in North America, Asia and Europe. He will use that experience when Redsense now is expanding around the world.
-Our main market is in the US; however, Europe is also of interest. The Dialysis market is highly dominated by two US based companies - DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care. Both companies are today customers of us. I would appreciate that we have reach around 0,5% of the total market potential in the US yet, so that is still a head.
A needle gets extracted accidentally approximately one time out of 700 treatments and during one of 50 000 treatments a severe accident occurs. It’s said that three people lose their life per day because of incidents that Redsense could prevent.
-Our system detects blood leakage immediately and warns so that these serious problems can be avoided, says Patrik.
Redsense got listed in 2015 on what was then called Aktietorget (today Spotlight). They have since then moved to Nasdaq First North before returning to Spotlight. Redsense Medical has raised 50 million kronor over four times since their listing.
-Raising capital in a public environment is much easier since there is a market where investors can make their shares liquid, says Patrik.
The move from Aktietorget to Nasdaq First North was meant to bring in a larger investor base and institutional investors. However, the difference between the two markets was non existing.
-Nasdaq is well known, but that’s the only advantage they have. Spotlights service level is much higher, they are both responsive and easy going. Another advantage with being listed on Spotlight is that fact that our distribution of news reaches far more recipients. You also get a digital insider log which helps with insider reporting. Support around these things are extremely valuable – it saves both time and money, Patrik concludes.
During 2019 Redsense had a 59% growth in sales. It’s a result of that the sales increase substantially in the US and the productions capacity rose.
-Medtech companies takes in general 15 years to build and we are growing quickly at this point. In Q1 2020 our growth exceeded the previous period during 2019 with 150%. I see no indication of it slowing down. Dialysis in US homes is growing even more during these Corona times.
The profitability curve has not yet turned up. The fact is that the company was near bankruptcy during 2012. The company went under reconstruction and Patrik took over as the largest shareholder.
-We managed to get a US partner, NxStage, a world leading manufacturing company within home dialysis machines, they are now a part of Fresenuis Medical Care with is the largest player in dialysis. Another important milestone would be an email from Veteran Affairs in the USA.
-We have had a discussion with the for three months and the dialog became silent for a while. Out of the blue an email pops up with a substantial order. The order was to install our solution at 72 different hospitals within two months’ time. We received the email in July, so it was an exciting summer. It required a lot of work and traveling, but we did it and Vetran Affaris is obviously a very important customer for us in the USA.
- We are now a prerequisite for nighttime dialysis in the US, but still, many do as they have always done - despite the fact that Redsense actually saves lives.
Fakta
- Name: Patrik Byhmer
- Age: 53 years
- Lives in: Halmstad
- Education:M.Sc. in technical physics
- Interests: Travel, preferably with family
Redsense Medical specializes in the development of blood leakage alarms. The product is a sensor based on fiber technique which purpose detect blood loss and immediately warn and report this to different receivers. Redsense Medical also offers training and education within this business area. The company was founded in 2006 and the headquarter is in Halmstad.
