Identifying Key Elements for Fostering Successful Innovation in NZ Medical Technology

Abstract

Over the past decade, New Zealand's medical technologies space has gained significant traction in terms of its overall performance and consistent output in the number of companies established; with a total of 180+ created up to date. On a surface level, the opportunities for growth in New Zealand's health economy and the current provisions of research excellence and low-cost labor may appear to provide the right market dynamics for companies to succeed. However, in reality, there has been considerable challenges, particularly around the access to investments required for a company to build the right capabilities, finance for clinical trials, and ultimately scale-up for the international markets. Out of the 180+ medical companies identified, only two companies (Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Orion Health) are operating at revenue figures above NZD 100 million; the rest is largely functioning in the "pre-revenue to NZD 2 million" range and has yet to exhibit any positive signs of movement or significant growth. With an increasing focus around building the right system of support and culture, government agencies and industry bodies have adopted the terminologies of an "innovation ecosystem" in attempts for fostering greater collaboration and value co-creation. Although prior works have been invaluable for contributing knowledge to this subject, they have only been able to characterize surface findings relating to the ecosystem. With this in mind, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the drivers for creating the right innovation ecosystem for the successful commercialization of medical technology companies. The research aims to capture in-depth, the key issues both promoting and attenuating the path to success for Medical Technologies in New Zealand. Extensive mapping of the different actors and their structural role and relationship concerning the ecosystem is also proposed. This research takes on a qualitative approach as informed from previous ecosystem-studies. The data acquisition will occur in the form of semi-structured interviews, and the subsequent analysis of the data will be guided by a deductive, theory-driven perspective. Thematic coding will be conducted to the point of saturation (i.e., sufficient representativeness to literature), and contextual findings will be discussed and critiqued in relation to existing literature; particularly through the "structural lenses" of an ecosystem construct. Findings indicate that despite being a young ecosystem, New Zealand is equipped with the right players for driving impact. The issue exists in the lack of coherence between different sectors and the apparent "fragmentation" that occurs between academia, commercial, and investment clusters. Misalignments of values and expectations were perceived to be the greatest when engaging with clinical and institutional finance sectors. Activities for driving the prosperity of the ecosystem are presented in the findings and related to policy considerations as well as the call for the establishment of a medical-specific "accelerator" construct. It follows that active self-assessment of competencies and value complementariness will help form a firm's innovation strategies for alignment. A shift in behavior and culture is also proposed to create a better dynamic for alignment and cohesion.