This article originally appeared in MPO.
I. Situation: Novel technology for unmet need
This story begins with a tiny Israeli startup with innovative medical device technology and a CEO who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
In 2015, Elad Einav and Dr. Amir Kraitzer founded Medibrane, a contract manufacturer of polymeric covers for medical stent devices based in Rosh Hayin, Israel. “At that time, we had no sales in the U.S. I didn’t even know anyone in the U.S.,” recalled Elad, Medibrane’s CEO. “Most of our business was in Israel or Germany.”
Early in 2016, Elad reached out to David Schnur Associates (DSA), a leading medical device industry manufacturers’ representative agency offering outsourced technical sales and marketing services. He was looking for a partner to represent Medibrane outside of Israel, especially in the U.S.
“I initially said, ‘No way,’” remembered Barry Schnur, president and CEO of DSA. “It seemed too risky. Medibrane was a small company, far away, and I wasn’t sure they had a solution persuasive enough to convince customers to ship a nitinol component all the way to the Middle East.”
Fast forward to November 2016, at the COMPAMED show in Düsseldorf, Germany. Elad and Barry had the opportunity to meet in person, and Elad suggested there was a real hole in the market for the type of coating Medibrane was offering. “I came away from that meeting very impressed with Elad and convinced I needed to look into this,” Barry said. “I had undervalued the importance of the coating and the challenges companies were facing.”
Over the next few months, Barry’s DSA team did a market survey and talked with key customers, both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and medical device contract manufacturers. They found that it was very challenging to make elastomeric coatings for nitinol, whether customers were doing it in house or working with a supplier.
“It was a classic case of an unmet need, with no one happy with their supplier,” Barry said. “I realized Medibrane had a truly differentiated technology—a focused sale with a high level of expertise.” Medibrane’s original focus on structural heart applications was an excellent fit for DSA, which already offered complementary components such laser cutting, nitinol and delivery systems. DSA’s primary customers—R&D engineers—were exactly the customers Medibrane wanted to reach.
II. Solution: Exclusive partnership
Barry and Elad signed an exclusive agreement for DSA to represent Medibrane everywhere outside of Israel, with a focus on the U.S. and Ireland. In the first year, Barry and his senior team came to Israel and coached the Medibrane team on the cleanroom and quality system it would need to satisfy the requirements of U.S. customers, as well as on the investments needed. “Elad was open to guidance so that he wouldn’t spend money where he didn’t need to,” Barry said.
DSA also developed a training program for its reps, identified good prospects, and set up customer meetings with Elad. “I relied on Barry as a mentor,” Elad said. “His group is the largest medical device manufacturers’ rep in the U.S. They got busy setting up meetings to introduce me to half the world, practically. The DSA reps had relationships with the engineers and knew a lot about their programs and their customers’ needs. It was a great mix of big companies and small companies.”
“Our team offered credibility because we have long-term, trusted relationships,” Barry said. “We were able to get Medibrane—a small, unknown company—visibility at giants like Medtronic, Edwards and Merit Medical, as well as at the most innovative young companies.”
Elad traveled to the U.S. every two months and hit the road with the DSA team. “There was a lot of interest from the beginning,” Barry said. “The coating was different and the market needed it.”
While the meetings were productive in terms of feedback and new business, Elad felt that the travel time was a key part of the experience. “At least 70% of the important stuff happened with the DSA team when driving or flying to customer meetings,” Elad said. “DSA reps like Geoff Payne and Mikki Larner are so experienced and have seen it all. Each one has an opinion on the market and how it looks and what needs to be done. They each have their own unique approach for how to sell, follow up or prepare a quote. And together, they’re an amazing team. It was an intense time, but I learned a lot. It was a very good ‘school’ for me.”
Working closely with the DSA team gave Elad insight into the DSA culture. “Barry and the team have alignment on how to do business,” Elad said. “They have a code of professional behavior and a code of honor: be straight, be honest, and if you screw up, you need to fix it. This created trust.”
DSA and Medibrane worked together for three years. What was most unique about this partnership was the agreement. Hiring a manufacturers’ representative like DSA made sense for Medibrane: It cost less to invest in a “partial share” of a team of 15 senior people with established relationships than it would to hire one employee. Ordinarily, DSA works on commission for its sales time and attention. But structural heart applications have a very long sales development cycle, and Medibrane didn’t have the funds to hire DSA to represent them.
So they created an exclusive, multiyear agreement that captured the revenue stream on the back end. DSA committed to working with Medibrane as its exclusive representative outside of Israel. Whenever the agreement ended, Medibrane would continue to pay a commission on customers to whom DSA had introduced them for several years.
III. Outcome: Accelerated growth
For Medibrane, working with DSA was a very affordable way to break into the marketplace. “The introduction by DSA gave us credibility in front of customers, which helped to build the value of the company,” Elad said. “To be their partner meant we could play the ‘big game.’ With that kind of access, we were able to accelerate growth, revenue and market adoption as company.”
According to Barry, DSA’s partnership with Medibrane gave the team an answer to their customers’ most common questions: What’s new? What’s cool? “Medibrane was a great addition to our portfolio and a perfect example of how the DSA team can provide innovative but credible, vetted technology solutions that are relevant to our customers.”
“From a marketing standpoint, it’s all about the connections you make,” Elad said. “Today, so many more customers know about Medibrane, and much of that is due to the introductions of Barry, Tom Torres and the DSA team.”
For Elad, the alternative to working with DSA would have been flying all over the world himself to raise awareness of Medibrane. “The time frame would have been much different,” he said. “When you grow organically, cultivating one customer relationship might take six or nine months. With DSA opening multiple doors, you accelerate growth, so it’s much faster than what I could have done on my own. I’m not an expert in sales, so it also saved me from making a lot of mistakes in dealing with customers. I had DSA to watch my back, which is much better.”
In 2017, Medibrane received an initial investment from STI Laser Industries, a leading supplier of laser processing, nitinol shape setting and electropolishing also based in Israel. “They do stents, we do coatings—it was a perfect fit,” Elad said. Resonetics acquired minority ownership in Medibrane when it acquired STI in 2018. In 2019, Resonetics made an additional equity investment in Medibrane. Through the strategic agreement, Medibrane remains an independent company, but its sales are now handled by Resonetics’ direct sales force.
For Elad and Barry, their partnership was more than a story of a mutually beneficial business win. It’s also about doing what you love, helping someone you believe in, and creating relationships.
“It’s rewarding to help young companies grow and be successful,” Barry said. “That’s why this was so much fun—we loved working with these folks.”
“Business is done people to people. Products are important, but people are much more important,” Elad said. “I was so fortunate to have met very good people on this journey with DSA. It wasn’t just business—it felt like a family.”
About DSA
David Schnur Associates (DSA) is a medical device design and manufacturing partner. With a single point of contact, DSA connects customers to the best in cutting-edge materials design and consults on best practices for medical device design, development and manufacturing.
About Medibrane
Medibrane designs, develops, and manufactures customized biomaterial polymeric coverings and coatings for medical frame-based applications for a diverse range of MIS in such fields as neurology, cardiovascular, cardiology and urology, as well as for gastroenterology, biliary and respiratory devices.
