Founders Readers - Ep 45 - Jason Matuszwewski and Andrew Van Vurst with BioStem Technologies
The Founders Keepers podcast, podded
The Founders Readers podnotes are not a transcript, but accompany the weekly podcast detailing key insights from that exact conversation
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This week, we’re speaking with Jason Matuszwewski and Andrew Van Vurst and their company BioStem Technologies…
🔑 Key insights from the episode:
Jason and Andrew on what led them to the field of regenerative medicine: Jason cites the importance of the relationship he had with Andrew from a young age, brought together by motorsport racing and working on building and repairing motorcycles. Unfortunately, Andrew’s father was diagnosed with a series of brain tumours, and ultimately received regenerative medicine treatment with “really good outcomes... So that's kind of what drove the initial conversation or initial thought of actually being involved in regenerative medicine”. Jason, Andrew and Andrew’s father went on to purchase a controlling interest in a regenerative company in Mexico, which kick-started their ventures -
On their complementary skillsets: Jason is a mechanical engineer by background and went on to work for several motorsports agencies and larger corporations following university where he was “able to actually get some good solid footing of what a corporate environment looks like.” Andrew meanwhile joined the US Marine Corps, after which he started an asset acquisition company with his father.
On what BioStem does: Jason describes the company’s activity “as simple as we manufacture advanced bandaids from placental tissue.” All of their allografts are derived from amnion, under a strict vetting protocol from a full- term, healthy pregnancy - “we work with five collection agencies that work on placental tissue donation to receive material in our facility… we process the material into the sheet like materials ranging from a 8 millimeter disc all the way up to a 14 or a 10 by 10 or 10 by 15 sheet material.” Their allografts are currently indicated for the treatment of wounds created through diabetic foot disease, pressure ulcers and venous ulcers: “So a lot of focus on lower extremity wounds.” Andrew, is there anything you'd wanna add to that or is Jason pretty much covered?
On what differs BioStem from its competitors: Andrew and Jason cite that their stand-apart features broadly focus on their passion for, and background in, materials science and engineering, creating products that include their BioRetain patent in addition to around 15 other provisional patents around that processing technique: “we… process the tissue in the most minimally manipulated way, retaining all the really good elements in the tissue.
And that stems from collection all the way through process.”
On pushback: Both founders allude to misinformation abounding at the time of establishing BioStem and addressing that they don’t work with fetal tissue or fertally-derived cells, as well as overcoming regulatory hurdles: “These products are all regulated as tissue allografts or tissue transplants… from a regulatory standpoint, the regulatory environment is kind of moving and shifting because there's more and more competition… the products must be minimally manipulated, so there's only so much you can do without changing the characteristics of the tissue to still consider an allograft.”
On what’s in the pipeline: BioStem is currently working on preparing an RCT for the use of their products in managing diabetic foot ulcer cases, in the hope that it will confirm that “…our product will treat a patient under the standard care of about 10 weeks.”
On overcoming big hurdles: Citing market difficulties and investor panic, BioStem and its founders “grinded everything out from through the pandemic… all our products went from sales to nothing.” Not to be deterred, however, they pivoted into different divisions and began to focus more on the wound care sector with several asset acquisitions, ultimately leading them to a valuation of “just under” USD$7 million in the past 12 months: “(our) product actually is starting to take market share, because the product itself is actually closing wounds faster than other competitor products… so I think that's what really resonates with potential investors right now.“
On what’s next: Jason claims that “We're taking a different approach. We're focused on commercializing, making money, being a sound business, growing that business and, and in the underlays thinking about ways to get those bigger BLE or pipeline products maybe in the next two to three years.”
📖 Background:
Founded: 2014
Location: Pompano Beach, FL
IPO status: Publicly Held
Stock symbol: BSEM
Industry: Biotechnology
Market size: USD
Employees: 11-50 employees
🔍 What:
BioStem Technologies Inc is a regenerative biotechnology company focused on harnessing elements of perinatal tissue and the body's innate biology to repair or reverse damage caused by a broad range of degenerative diseases.
The Company offers a comprehensive portfolio of high-quality brands that are trademarked and include RHEO, AEON, OROPRO, VENDAJE, VENDAJE AC and VENDAJE OPTIC.
🔧 How:
BioStem’s proprietary approach, Local MicroEnvironment Activation (LMA), uses combinations of Small Molecules, Cytokines, and Growth Factors to activate the microenvironment within the body to create communication for repair in the tissue.
🏙 Company tagline:
“We manufacture products that change lives”
👉 Find out more about Ratio:
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