Today we’re going to talk about a company that makes scaffolds – not for buildings, but scaffolds that can be implanted into the human body for bones and tissues to grow. 

Started in 1992, our guest is Osteopore, an Australian and Singapore based medical technology company commercialising a range of products specifically engineered to facilitate natural bone healing across multiple therapeutic areas. 

One of the firm’s products included the Osteomesh, which is a mesh-like polymer scaffold that can be implanted into patients’ skulls to help them regenerate bone tissues that were taken out in surgical procedures. 

Other products include those that can be used for rhinoplasty or a nose implant surgery, as well as those that can be used for jaw surgeries to help people eat and speak normally after injuries. 

The firm was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in September 2019 and had achieved a milestone of 80,000 implants across all major continents in 2022. 

But how does Osteopore commercialise its products, and are its patients using its implants also its customers? How does it then assess its relationship with insurers? 

Speaking of insurers, Osteopore announced in May last year that the most prominent medical scheme in South Africa, the Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) has approved the reimbursement of its Osteomesh product. But how big is the South African market to Osteopore and how important is this to the firm’s top and bottom lines? 

Meanwhile, the firm had in September 2023 signed an agreement with Temasek-linked InnoVentures to commercialise Osteopore’s orthopaedic products in China, but how much money does this represent for the company?

On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Dr Lim Jing, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Osteopore.