Westbury Diagnostics, Inc.

Venture Capital Group

A group of investors had placed several million dollars into a “Biotechnology” company. The company had developed an in vitro diagnostic device, but despite having been in business for almost four years, had not sold any of the product. The investors were continually being told that market introduction, and millions of dollars in sales, were anticipated “within two weeks”.

The investors called Westbury Diagnostics, Inc. in for a single day of consulting. The purpose of the consult was to inspect the company, and critique its device. After the visit, Westbury issued a full report indicating that the device was several months away from being able to be manufactured reliably, and released to the market.

Based upon the initial report, Westbury was called in to perform an in-depth analysis of the device. This analysis included a brief market survey, as well as a full study of the product’s ability to be manufactured reliably. Within two weeks, Westbury had arranged to have the device tested in one of the major NYC hospital laboratories it has in its network, in an actual clinical setting. It also tested several of the devices in its own laboratory. Unfortunately, the analysis revealed that in actual practice, the product was clumsy, and that the lab technicians did not like it. In addition, we found that even at full production levels, as envisioned, the product would cost more to manufacture, than a customer would be willing to pay.

The final report to the investors summarized all of the findings, and also contained suggestions for modifications that might make it acceptable to the lab clinicians, at a higher sales price. Westbury performed its entire study, including the clinical evaluation, at a cost that was less than the investors were then losing, every three days.

Tags: in vitro diagnostics, venture capital