News letter, June 2008

Dear Sir,

It is my pleasure to present you our June 2008 issue of the MedSupport Europe news flash featuring some of our recent learning experiences from which I want you to benefit as well.

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Distributor Agreements - DO's and DON'Ts !
When starting up new business with distributors for a specific area a manufacturer is advised to give fomalisation thought. Does the planned cooperation need a formal agreement, now or longer term? In most cases MedSupport Europe advises Medical device companies to do so.

A company making use of distributors should be thinking about a formal agreement in an early stage. Contracts are generally needed when conflicts arise and of course when one of the two parties has chosen to end the cooperation. Your goals are to develop a successful business relationship, satisfying both your objectives and those of the other party.

Drawing up the contract should also be utilised as an important phase in building up a strong relationship, based on well considered rules. So the process of making up the contract might be far more important than the signed paper itself. During the process you get to know your business partner very well where it relates to commitment, company and personal values, flexibility and more.

To increase the success of discussion and negotiations find below several do's and don'ts to consider:

Do's:
> refer to it as an 'agreement', not as a 'contract';
> set yourself a deadline for having a signed agreement
> do the main negotiations in (a) personal meeting(s);
> give-and-take during negotiations;
> where possible, use understandable language;
> issue and distribute a press release when it has been signed.

Don'ts:
> have a 30 page contract for a $5,000 per annum potential;
> go for a 'strangle contract' where targets and initial stocking are unrealistic;
> neglect the other party's interests;
> forget the longer term objectives you have set.

Please contact us if you are interested to have a discussion and our view on your specific distributor agreement-case.

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"White Paper" on reimbursement in the UK
In Europe white paper marketing is a fairly new business tool. MedSupport Europe sees this as an advanced way to offer it's (potential) clients insight in the expertise, knowledge and skills of our company.

What is a White Paper?
A White Paper is a report or guide that often addresses problems and offers support towards the solution. White Papers are used to educate readers and help during decision making. They have been and are used in politics for some time now (the first reported occasion was the "Churchill White Paper" in 1922). In business it has also been in use for some years now, mainly in the USA and the UK. Here the term White Paper refers to documents used as a marketing tool. They reveal the benefits of particular technologies and/or products. These types of commercial White Papers establish thought leadership or present a business case. White Papers, when written objectively, are often regarded as a credible source of information.

Reimbursement in the UK:
MSE has recently developed a White Paper on reimbursement in the UK. The NHS has recently restructured reimbursement in the UK and in April 2004 it introduced the "payment by Results" system. For a company with an innovative medical device it is cumbersome to find the answers to questions such as: "How does the reimbursement process work in general?", "Is a reimbursement code in place for my medical device, diagnosis or therapy?", "How best to apply for new reimbursement on this therapy?" and other relevant questions.
If you are interested to receive a copy of this White Paper, we invite you to contact us to have a copy sent to you. It will increase your insight into the UK reimbursement and will help answer questions you may have on it.

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MedSupport Europe - appointed European distributor for Inogen, Inc.
After having utilised the MedSupport Europe sales and marketing business development services for roughly two years Inogen, Inc. of Goleta California has appointed MedSupport Europe as their European distributor, effective April 1st, 2008. Inogen (Innovation in Oxygen) is a fairly young company that developed an innovative technology to greatly improve quality of life for oxygen therapy dependent patients. The newly developed solution is called Inogen One . It is a portable solution, so users receive their oxygen therapy as prescribed by their pulmonologist, yet they are hardly restricted to go as they please; to lead and plan their lives as they please. Inogen One is greatly appreciated by patients and home healthcare providers.

MSE has been supporting Inogen since the first half of 2006 with their goals to develop the business in Europe. This has lead to a much better understanding of the opportunities and the specific circumstances at hand in Europe.
After working together for two years and following the realisation of the first sales successes, Inogen approached MSE to strengthen their mutual relationship. This has resulted in MSE accepting the role of master distributor for Europe. MSE is highly pleased to take on this next responsibility which involves a wider geographic scope and of course intense operational activities.

As a sales and marketing consultancy company this is a slightly different activity from MSE's advice work. Given the intense relationship we had already going and the strong belief in the technology, we are simply very happy doing this. It allows us to execute the marketing and entry strategy MSE has developed for Inogen. Put your resources where your mouth is !!

Dennis van Leijden