Staying one step ahead

BETTER OUTCOME, LOWER COST: Michelle Wu, Ximedica vice president of quality, and Bradley Codkind, design insurance engineer, discuss a project at the company's Providence headquarters. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
BETTER OUTCOME, LOWER COST: Michelle Wu, Ximedica vice president of quality, and Bradley Codkind, design insurance engineer, discuss a project at the company's Providence headquarters. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Back in the mid-1980s, fellow Rhode Island School of Design grads Stephen Lane and Aidan Petrie formed a company devoted to providing an innovative and creative platform for introducing medical-technology products to the marketplace, among other things.

Today, that company – known as Ximedica for the past decade – is a leader in the innovation, development and commercialization of medical and health care products. Its customer roster ranges from Fortune 100 med-tech and pharma companies to emerging tech startups.

“Our services provide a value solution for development and commercialization under a fully regulated quality-management system that provides flexibility, reduces risk and time to market,” said Randall S. Barko, Ximedica’s president and CEO for nearly five years. “Ximedica has no products of our own. We are an extension of our customers and provide virtual resources as needed.”

Since Ximedica is developing new and innovative products, confidentiality is tantamount. To that end, the company has built a fire wall system into its standard operating procedures that allows it to work simultaneously with competitors on similar products with the assurance of maintaining confidentiality with dedicated resources exclusive to the individual engagement.

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According to Barko, Ximedica’s revenue has increased 229 percent since 2013, reaching $53.8 million in 2015. That figure, he said, is expected to surpass $60 million this year.

In the past three years, the company’s full-time staff has increased from about 75 to almost 150 with expansions in its Providence and Minneapolis offices and the acquisition of San Francisco-based Bridge Design in 2015. In July, Ximedica acquired AccelBiotech in Los Gatos, Calif., which should bring the employee figure to more than 200 into 2017.

Recent Ximedica projects have included Gecko Health Innovations and its prototype cloud-based CareTRx™ device, which adds intelligence to inhalers; Accelerate Pheno™, a system used to provide identification and minimum inhibitory concentration-based susceptibility results direct from sample in hours instead of days; and 3Derm Systems, which is developing a hand-held stereoscopic imaging system for remote skin monitoring.

“In today’s health care environment, innovation is not innovation unless it provides a better outcome at a lower cost,” Barko said. “That does not mean that the device or product must be a lower price, it means the total cost of the procedure, the length of stay, the risk of infection – the better outcome – is a lower cost to the health care system. We take pride in being part of a better solution that impacts patients by improving outcomes, enhancing lives and helping our customers achieve their business objectives.”

Joe Gordon has been with Ximedica for 14 years, serving as director of technical innovation for the past three. Often “accused” by fellow employees of having the best job, Gordon says exposure to a variety of projects, technologies and clients keeps his role exciting and fresh.

“I feel very fortunate to have worked at a place for as long as I have and never felt bored,” Gordon said. “Innovation is core to my role. The breadth of challenges requiring novel solutions is what keeps my job interesting. We have assembled an amazing group of vibrant, talented individuals with a passion for what they do.”

Barko says that Ximedica strives to become a trusted adviser with its customers.

“We constantly work to establish credibility and a spirit of openness in all we do,” he said. “We operate on facts, not opinions and focus on results. … We know that whatever was ‘good enough’ today will not be ‘good enough’ tomorrow.” •

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