Elisenda Casanelles. CIMTI Chief Operations Officer – July 2021
The 5 ingredients that have led MJN to reach the market explained by CIMTI’s Chief Operating Officer, Elisenda Casanelles.
At CIMTI (Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technologies) we are in constant contact with entrepreneurs and innovators in the health and social sector. We listen to many project ideas and select only those that have the greatest potential to have a major impact on significantly improving the quality of life of patients. I remember well the first day I spoke with the MJN team in late 2017 as they captured my attention quickly. They had the ingredients to succeed and I encouraged them to apply to CIMTI. They did and were selected and since then that we have provided them with various services to help bring their product to market, achieved by the end of 2021, 4 years after we met.
With this background, when they asked me to write an article for their blog, I was immediately excited, as I am certain that their product will benefit a multitude of patients with epilepsy.
From my humble point of view, here are 5 ingredients that have led mjn-neuro to success:
- A clear unmet clinical need. In the case of mjn-neuro, the clinical need is not only very clear from a technical point of view, but also from an emotional point of view. David Blánquez, CEO of mjn-neuro, has a daughter, Marina, who has suffered from epilepsy since the age of two. Throughout Marina’s life they have had many problems with epileptic seizures and, as there was no solution that could make life easier for both Marina and them, they turned this need into their goal. And not only for the Navy, but for all those who suffer the same situation.
- A solution that solves the need with a high potential to improve patients’ lives. It is not only a matter of identifying the unresolved clinical need, but of knowing how to create a viable and resolving solution.
- A well-defined and focused project, with a viable business model and a good plan to bring it to market. As I have just said, the market study came from home. There were no solutions to help the Navy and that helped them to define in detail the plan to bring this solution to the patients.
- The ability to raise financing. From the beginning, the emotional pitch of this project has been able to convince multiple stakeholders, including myself. And this has made it possible to raise the necessary funding to carry out the project.
- An entrepreneurial project that fit with the driving team. To undertake successfully, the project must fit with the passion of the entrepreneurs. And that is exactly what the mjn-neuro team reflects. And we certainly can’t take credit away from the Navy, who day by day have contributed to make the solution exactly what the patients need.
I wish you many more successes!
