Katarzyna Kolasa

Claus Schaffrath

I am a physician and electrical engineer and founded MD squared after working more than 20 years in Medical Devices and Image Guided Therapy, both in Hospital and Industry. As healthcare marketing professional I was responsible in start-up, mid-sized and large international companies for Business Development and Product Portfolio Management over a broad spectrum of clinical areas. Over time I gained market experience and clinical networks in Neurology & Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Spine & Trauma and Interventional Oncology & Radiology.

I got exposed first hand as marketer to an evolving regulatory environment and its challenges for communicating product value. Therefore over the past years I developped Product ClaimManager™, a practice driven approach of Value Creation for Medical Devices via a structural build up of product claims.

I am registered in the Netherlands as physician, certifed as Manager Regulatory Affairs Medical Devices EU & International by TUEV-SUED and as Lead Auditor for Quality Management Systems for Medical Devices (ISO 13485:2016) by BSI.

In my field of expertise I am an active contributor to the Deutsche Gesellschaft Biomedizinische Technik (DGBMT), member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft Interventionelle Radiologie (DeGIR) and Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE).

Luc Koch

I am a mechanical engineer with a specialization in software development and IT, and joined MD Squared with over 20 years of industry experience in Medical Imaging, Healthcare-IT, and Medical Devices. As product development professional I was responsible for project-, program- and R&D management in various clinical/medtech business lines, at multinational corporate level, and more recently in various start-ups.

I had senior roles in the development of products and platforms for Radiology and Cardiology, Healthcare-IT, Product Interoperability, Usability, Interventional Therapy in Oncology, and Cardiac Surgery. As R&D manager I learned how to turn business goals into inspiring yet realistic R&D programs and projects, and how to deliver results with high quality, on time and within budget. Having been responsible for Q&R, I know where to focus in the complex go-to-market of regulated medical devices, especially in today’s circumstances of fast moving (software) technologies and the many changes in the regulatory requirements

I have a strong network of clinical, architectural, technological, regulatory and marketing experts, and have worked with many professional suppliers for both software and hardware. I am eager to help you to bring you innovation to patients and clinicians, in a predictable, professional and efficient way.

Will Ickenroth

As a mechanical engineer and master of marketing, supplemented with leadership development programs at leading institutes, I have built up a career with proven track records in Research and Development, Marketing, Sales, Business and General Management in large organizations and in a startup.

Nearly 20 years I have worked in leadership positions in the industry focused on healthcare, gaining extensive experience in developing, marketing and selling products in the field of medical imaging and medical devices. Activities varied, amongst others, from starting and leading innovations, selecting development and manufacturing partners, launching new products, setting up direct and indirect sales channels, building up relationships with Key Opinion Leaders, developing business plans for attracting funding, setting up strategic partnerships to integration of an acquisition. All of this in an international environment.

Over the years I have built up an extensive network of experts in all kinds of areas. People that share my passion to support companies in developing products and solutions that contribute to the health and wellbeing of our society.

Driven with the passion to health economics, I have more than 20 years of academic and industry experience in the field of healthcare. Holding various Regional and Global leadership positions, I have been working extensively within public health sector as well as pharma and medtech industry.

After six years employment at the Kalmar County Council in Sweden, I held global and regional Health Economics & Outcomes Research (HEOR) positions at AstraZeneca and BiogenIdec respectively. At Bristol Myers Squibb and Lundbeck I lead Market Access teams in Central Eastern European (CEE) and Nordic Region. In the last five years, I gained experience with the pricing &reimbursement challenges in the field of medical devices. I supported Straub Medical as Global Market Access Lead. Before that, I was Senior Sales Director responsible for HEOR at GE Healthcare.

Since 2018 I am a Professor at the Kozminski University heading Health Economics & Healthcare Management Division (HeM). I am the leader of the International Master Program Health Economics & Big Data (HEBDA) financed by the EU research grant. In October 2020, I was nominated to the ISPOR’s Health Sciences Policy Council (HSPC). Since January 2020, I am chair elect of ISPOR Special Interest Group Digital Health as well.

My biggest strength is the market access planning for a successful pricing & reimbursement strategy. Knowledgably of HTA guidelines, DRG financing and hospital procurement pathways across EU & US settings, I will be able to advice on the optimal market entry that ensures the best differentiation of a given technology against alternative treatment options.

Jeroen Kortsmit

I am a Biomedical Engineer with over 10 years of experience in Medical Devices and Image Guided Therapy in business and research roles. I'm well versed with clinical and regulatory challenges in start-up environments. I know how to set a (pre)clinical strategy to demonstrate safety and effectiveness for regulatory approval.

My expertise is in developing and substantiating customer-centric value propositions and designing Minimal Viable Product (MVP) on their base. I create product claims and supporting evidence which make the difference.

Lars Ottevanger

I have a background as medical biologist with a master’s degree in Science Based Business. I has worked as business development manager for Medical Device companies and I'm founder and COO of a MedTech start-up in the Netherlands, that develops hard- & software for intraoperative assessment of tumor margins.

I am responsible for developing and executing the strategy for this company and mainly responsible for commercialization, finance and business development, with the focus on Europe. I have a network and experience in the start-up & scale-up MedTech ecosystem, and have a passion for bringing medical devices to the market.

Sherry-Lee Soledad

As an Office Manager I am running MD squared’s Project Backoffice and I always like to say that I love doing the work backstage in order for a company to shine on stage.

After my studies in Culture, Organization & Management I entered the corporate world in an international trust office, a place where a variety of businesses seek fiduciary or financial services or asset management. I quickly got intrigued by the variety of my supportive work and discovered that I’m a real all-rounder and love the versatility of having a supporting role across different areas. It is this breadth of assignments, the variety of projects and the multidisciplinary approach, which I also like in my work for MD squared.

I help organizations with administration, legal, compliance, social media marketing and management support tasks. In combining my various interests and talents I can help to achieve the best results. This way I can unburden busy, passionate entrepreneurs so that they can fully focus on their core business.

About us

Claus Schaffrath

Luc Koch

Will Ickenroth