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| CoolSculpting device--Courtesy of Adavium |
Adavium Medical has made a lot of moves fast to thrust itself into the position of the largest medical equipment and diagnostics company in Brazil. It just acquired two of the largest Brazilian clinical diagnostics companies, raised a $21 million Series C round to finance these and other anticipated deals, hired an ex-GE Healthcare ($GE) exec as COO and president of diagnostics and changed its name from Advance Medical.
Brazil is the third largest private healthcare market behind the U.S. and China, the company noted. It's estimated to be worth $120 billion annually, with a 10-year historical growth rate of 20% that's expected to continue apace driven by a rapidly growing aging population.
Adavium aims to go beyond the typical emerging markets strategy of aiming solely for wealthier self-paying customers. It will work to enable U.S. companies to bring in those premium devices and diagnostic products for that market--but it also plans to develop proprietary products that target low-income patients and small business customers, who comprise most of the market.
"Our strategy is to commercialize a complete portfolio that can meet the needs of both premium and value customers because both of these segments are equally large," Adavium CEO Dr. Fred Aslan told FierceMedicalDevices via email. "Premium customers demand the latest and most innovative products so are heavily called on by all product providers, including multinationals, whereas the value segment needs high quality products at a more affordable price but limited attention is paid to this large and attractive, yet underserved, market. A complete portfolio gives us a competitive advantage, scale and larger market opportunity.
The company is comprised of two divisions: medical devices and clinical diagnostics. The former focuses on aesthetics, dermatology, plastic surgery, vascular surgery and gynecology, while the latter provides clinical diagnostics, as well as equipment and reagents used by laboratories. It has acquired Alka Tecnologia and Hemogram Industria e Comercio, two of the largest clinical diagnostic companies in Brazil.
To lead it on the diagnostics front, Adavium has brought on Claudia Goulart, former CEO of GE Healthcare for Latin America. She has joined as its COO and President of the Diagnostics division. She was already a board member of the company since 2013. Prior to GE, she was an executive at a number of private equity-backed Brazilian companies.
"We are building an integrated product development and commercial platform able to bring the right portfolio to the largest number of customers in Brazil in a highly professional, ethical and FCPA-compliant manner," said Goulart. FCPA is the antibribery Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice. Brazil has notorious issues on this front.
Adavium is based in Palo Alto, CA, with offices in São Paulo, Brazil. In this latest round, it's backed by new investors including CVF, an affiliate of private investment group Henry Crown and Company that typically invests in sectors such as banking, transportation, oil and gas, and real estate. All major existing investors, including Venrock, Aberdare Ventures and Arboretum Ventures, participated in the Series C financing.
- here is the release