Paper-Based Urine Tests for Cancer Detection - Coursework Example

Invention Recommendation Name: University: Date: Table of Contents Invention Recommendation 1 Table of Contents 2 Paper-Based Urine Tests for Cancer Detection 2 The Rationale for Choosing a Specific Invention 2 The external challenges in commercializing the invention including ethical issues 3 Analysis of Market potential for commercializing the invention 5 Social Factors 6 Economic Factors 8 Other Demographic Factors 8 Positioning the new innovation in the existing market space and the environment 9 Strategic Perspective to Successfully Commercialize the Innovation 11 Financial implications 13 Conclusion 14 References 16 Paper-Based Urine Tests for Cancer Detection The Rationale for Choosing a Specific Invention Progressively, innovation is sparking creative connections in different disciplines. In this essay, the focus is on ‘Synthetic Biomarkers’ for cancer detection by Sangeeta Bhatia, a scholar, cancer researcher, as well as biotech entrepreneur. Sangeeta has broken through academic silos so as to converge biology and engineering on medical innovations. She has leveraged a number of ‘tiny technologies’ of miniaturization with the intention of yielding inventions that can be used in stem cell differentiation, tissue regeneration, drug delivery, predictive toxicology as well as medical diagnostics. Together with her team, Sangeeta has launched numerous biotechnology companies that seek to improve human health through innovations. The current biomarker industry has a number of limitation, and for this reason, Sangeeta and her team are focusing on improving disease detection accuracy. In this case, ‘synthetic biomarkers’ was designed with the goal of offering enhanced sensitivity in cancer detection (Lemelson-MIT, 2014). The innovation utilizes nanoparticles in delivering enzyme substrates through a shot to the affected tissue; thus, generating synthetic biomarkers capable of shedding urine and reading occurs through a simple paper-based urine test. If commercialized, the tests may be used to help communities having poor medical infrastructure, especially where cancer screening is very costly. Imperatively, the development of paper-based urine tests for cancer. The innovation can help reduce the cost of cancer screening, which is very expensive to most people. The Paper-Based Urine Tests can be used easily, whereby the patient is injected with nanoparticles, and synthetic biomarkers will be created after the nanoparticles interact with the diseased tissue, then they are shed in the urine. The test results can easily be read out through pregnancy test. The external challenges in commercializing the invention including ethical issues Commercializing Paper-Based Urine Tests will be challenging because a lot of resources, activities as well as external organizations are required. Medical innovations market is very competitive and dynamic; therefore, ability to swiftly invent and commercialize new product is a crucial factor. Still, the new invention can suffer from uncertainty because of the continuous changes in the projections of volume, margins, price and cost. Besides that, projections of the market share and market size of the product always change because of the new technologies and dynamics of competitive forces that are constantly changing. There is uncertainty about new technologies adoption by the customers; hence, it becomes challenging to forecast customer receptivity of the new invention. The company seeking to commercialize the new invention may fail to understand the changes within the industry, especially external technologies changes on which the new invention depends. Furthermore, it is hard to adapt swiftly to such changes. For instance, the needs of the customers are continually changing and it is important for the company to respond rapidly to changes in demand. Besides that, technology can be commoditized very fast, and revenue and profit margins can be reduced when numerous companies provide the same invention in the same market. Moreover, limited human resources can affect the company’s propensity as well as capability to understand and respond to, threats and opportunities that the external business environment presents. With regard to ethical issues, the invention can result in delayed secondary effects such as infection or thrombosis and the operator may be having inadequate experience. Other ethical issues include untrained personnel, carelessness, defects in the interpretation, or the interpreter may be inexperienced. Even though, the new medical technology cannot be subjected to quantitative analysis pertaining to the abovementioned concerns, the inventor must first understand if the invention is cost effective and efficient, if the available personnel have been trained sufficiently to utilize the invention properly, and if the new invention is superior to those currently in the market. Patenting will generate excessive medical burden; thus, increasing costs to consumers as well as royalties payments for next generations. The chart below shows that the ability to commercialize the new invention is average. Analysis of Market potential for commercializing the invention Without a doubt, taking the new medical invention from an idea to commercialization is a daunting task. Before marketing the invention, the inventors should first complete ‘marketability evaluation’, which determines whether the invention can be marketed in the present and future market. Commercialization as defined by Office of Technology Assessment (1995) is trying to make profits from an innovation by integrating new technologies into services, processes and products, before selling them on the market. For scores of new invention, commercialization denotes upgrading from prototype to mass production and dedicating a lot of resources for sales and marketing activities. In the medical industry, commercialization depends on the approval of the product by the relevant organizations. The Innovation theory of entrepreneurship by Joseph Schumpeter (1949) states that an entrepreneur should have three key attributes: innovation, foresight, as well as creativity. According to the theory, entrepreneurship occurs when the entrepreneur invents a new product, but the theory has ignored the entrepreneur’s organizational skills and risk taking ability. Entrepreneurs are viewed as gap-fillers by Leibenstein’s theory of Entrepreneurship. According to this theory, the entrepreneurship main traits include: developing new processes or products that are in demand but not in supply, recognizing market as well as establishing activities that are profitable (Scudder, 2011). According to theory of Entrepreneurship, inventors must have a special ability of connecting various markets and atoning market deficiencies and failures. Fig 1: The process of commercializing (source: slideshare.net) Social Factors Basically, social standards are closely associated with buying attitudes. Social standards can be defined as the norms as well as values that the targeted community holds. Basically, religious, social cultural as well as gender-influenced factors are part of the social standards and should be considered during the market assessment. When marketing a new invention to certain ‘target market’ or demographic, the inventor will basically be addressing the willingness of the customers to purchase the product. Therefore, understanding the purchasing attitudes of the customers is imperative in advertising as well as product development strategies. The rate of population growth is very high worldwide, and will soon surpass the ability to offer medical service sufficiently. Cancer has become a burden to many people, especially those living developing countries. The generation X are lying in the shadows of the baby boomers and do not have differentiating attributes, but majority of them are considered to be very cynical group. Currently, the echo boomers are the biggest growing market, and they use more of their time with different form of technologies. Their love technology makes them a perfect target for the new invention. The education level in a society has an effect on the interests as well as sophistication of consumers. For instance, in a society wherein a large percentage of potential customers possess post-secondary education, the inventor will have to use more explanations and details while marketing the invention. Understating the major reference groups, family structures and persons in a society is very important in the commercialization of the new invention. Fig 2: Avenues of Commercialization (source slipstreamcommercialisation.com.au) Economic Factors According to Fiedler and Welpe (2011), innovators can successfully commercialize their invention if structural policy and measures are supported by the government. Still, the new internet-based technologies and increasing globalisation have successfully reduced costs; therefore, making geographical proximity advantage seems somewhat inconsequential. The existing economic factors such unemployment and inflation rate outlines the inventor’s entrepreneurial role. Certainly, it is not easy to secure a license agreement using a patent alone; however, if the inventor invests more resources and time toward achieving his vision, the likelihood of success will increase. Assessing the existing economic factors will help reduce obstacles and increase the likelihood of commercialization of the invention. Assuming that the product idea is a good one, professional assistance will be the single most important factor in making it a success. Nowadays, companies are partnering so as to supportively pioneer new inventions. Even though, the large commitment is always beyond the capabilities of most inventors, a number of them consider partnering to be feasible. Other Demographic Factors Given that the new invention is for cancer screening, it has a market potential because cancer is affecting a lot of people. There are different forms of cancers, but affects both genders and all age groups. Cancer affects the elderly, children, women and men; therefore, the new invention can target all age groups. Imperatively, demographics are crucial for marketing plan because they help the inventor understand which group to target. Before commercialization, there is need to assess the new venture profitability, by considering ability to protects its intellectual property, the market competition, the profitability as well as size of possible markets, and the production and marketing cost. Besides that, the capability to harness the required complementary assets must be assessed; for instance, how other technologies can be used to make the invention more beneficial. Normally, the commercialization cost surpasses that of research and development (R&D) since product design and R&D account for almost 25% of the cost used for new product introduction into market. Positioning the new innovation in the existing market space and the environment The success of the new invention, in the medical devices industry, often determines the company’s positioning in the coming years and, even though every component of the strategy results in the success, a person may have power to bring about failure. Failure can be caused by aggressive pricing, whereby competition is disrupted and the perceived product value can be destroyed easily resulting in margin erosion. Incorrect resources prioritization may result in the shortage of the products, leading to delays and client frustration. In consequence, this offers the competitors an opportunity to respond. Therefore, regardless of how valuable the invention is, the existing challenges that can lead to success elimination are manifold. In this regard, successful positioning of the product is required, especially when marketing a new invention. By using product life cycle software, one can easily develop as well measure the new product plan in facilitating product positioning as well as differentiation. Fig 3: Positioning Strategies (Source; slideshare.net) There are numerous strategies for product positioning; therefore, selecting one strategy over another is important to how the inventor will market the invention. Imperatively, selecting the wrong positioning strategy may result in scarce marketing budget as well as lost time, and may ultimately adversely affect the business's bottom line. Therefore, taking a logical approach in the selection of the positioning strategy may help the company to be successful in the existing market space. When positioning the new invention, the inventor should ensure he understands the product’s sustainable competitive advantage and the competition in the market (Afuah, 2009). Bearing in mind that sustainable advantage is important because it enables the product to have a long term success in the market. Strategic Perspective to Successfully Commercialize the Innovation According to Slater and Mohr (2006), market strategy is about how competitive advantage can be achieved. For this reason, a comprehensive framework was developed Miles and Snow (1978) with the intention of addressing the alternative ways of approaching and defining product-market domains as well as constructing processes and structures so as to succeed in such domains. Slater and Mohr (2006) posits that prospectors try to find and capitalize on market opportunities and new products while defenders try to cordon off a section of the total market so as to generate a stable set of customers and products. To successfully commercialize the new invention, the inventor has to conceptualize as well as develop the innovation that can reach the early adopters. That is to say, the innovation must overcome the dilemma of the innovator by crossing the chasm. Strategic management according to Raduan, Jegak, Haslinda, and Alimin (2009) is an approach of specifying the objectives of the organization, developing plans as well as policies to attain and achieve such objectives, and allotting resources in order to put the plans and policies into practice. One of strategic management theory is the profit-maximizing and competition-based theory, which states that the main objective of business is maximizing long term profit as well as attaining sustainable competitive advantage over the competitors in the existing market space. The basis of this theory is the industrial-organization (I/O) viewpoint since it considers external market positioning of the organization as an important factor for achieving and maintaining competitive advantage (Raduan, Jegak, Haslinda, & Alimin, 2009). Fig 4: Commercialization of Technological Innovations (Slater & Mohr, 2006) Another strategic management theory is the resource-based theory that is based on the principle that the firms’ source of competitive advantage depends on the internal resources. According to Raduan, Jegak, Haslinda, and Alimin (2009), the firm’s resource-based view forecasts that particular forms of resources controlled and owned by firms can create competitive advantage and ultimately result in improved firm performance. In order to penetrate the existing market pace, prospectors’ focus have to be expanded from the early-majority and innovator segments and have to show clear advantage over the solutions that are currently in the market (Meigounpoory & Ahmadi, 2012). Besides that, they have to develop distribution systems capable of reaching mainstream market as well as offering the invention at lower price so as to lessen the financial risk related to adopting the innovation (Slater & Mohr, 2006). Slater and Mohr (2006) assert that blending the insights innovation management and those of market strategy can help the inventor successfully commercialize the invention. Essentially, improving the firm’s capabilities by focusing on the other types of strategy may be important for successful commercialization. Financial implications Evidently, the costs for cancer diagnosis as well as treatment are unbearable (see fig 5), and such costs are expected to continue increasing progressively in the coming years. The financial burden of cancer r falls on the patients, and not the whole society or their families. Hitherto, major technological innovations in the medical industry have enabled health care providers to easily diagnose as well as treat different illnesses. Generally, these innovations have increased the health care spending. Modern portfolio theory (MPT) shows how risk-averse entrepreneurs can make portfolios maximizing or optimizing the expected return with regard to market risk level. The theory stresses that it is possible to create an ‘efficient frontier’ of best portfolios where the expected return for a certain risk level is achieved. According to MPT theory, assets diversification can boost returns at particular risk levels (Kierkegaard, Lejon, & Persson, 2006). Basically, determining the new technology cost effectiveness is challenging because the health care functions outside the consumer behavior’s standard economic model. The customer of the new invention may be unwilling to pay the full cost. Still, the invention can help improve screening, extend life, lessen illness as well as improve life quality (Bevan, Zheltoukhova, & McGee, 2011). Fig 5: Cancer Expenditures (source; meps.ahrq.gov) A number of medical technologies have proved to be more suitable for persons in administering the treatments because they improve the compliance of the patients with regimens of treatment; this, reducing complications. Besides that, medical technologies benefits can spill over other industries other than the medical industry. Even though some technologies have the ability to improve the patient’s health outcomes, other are inclined to increase the costs of health care, especially in the short term. For instance, besides the costs related to the technologies, costs can go high because of increased appointments for medical check-up. The invention can help people do cancer screening, but in case one of the users is found to have cancer she will need to use a lot of financial resources so as to improve their health status. Essentially, savings mechanisms related to new technology are manifold, which includes reduced costs related to better health outcomes, less costs of treatment, long-term complications’ reductions as well as improved diagnoses that result in more suitable and well-timed treatment with less resources wastage. Conclusion This paper has focused on paper-based urine tests for cancer detection, and as mentioned above the innovation can be utilized easily, whereby the patient is injected with nanoparticles, and synthetic biomarkers will be created after the nanoparticles interact with the diseased tissue, then they are shed in the urine. There are a number of challenges associated with the commercialization of this innovation: changes in the projections of volume, margins, price, and cost; limited human resources; and costs related to Patenting. Imperatively, commercialization of the new invention can be achieved through limited partnering, whereby the inventor assumes responsibility for his/her effort in the development of the invention. Despite the financial implications associated with this invention, it can help improve screening, extend life, lessen illness well as improve life quality. References Afuah, A. (2009). Strategic Innovation: New Game Strategies for Competitive Advantage. New York: Routledge. Bevan, S., Zheltoukhova, K., & McGee, R. (2011). Adding Value: The Economic and Societal Benefits of Medical Technology. London: The Work Foundation. Fiedler, M., & Welpe, I. M. (2011). Commercialisation of technology innovations: an empirical study on the influence of clusters and innovation networks. International Journal of Technology Management, 54(4), 410 - 437. Kierkegaard, K., Lejon, C., & Persson, J. (2006). Practical Application of Modern Portfolio Theory. Thesis, Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping. Lemelson-MIT. (2014, September 9). Inventor Creates Tiny Technologies for Medicine; Awarded $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize . Retrieved from Lemelson-MIT Program: http://lemelson.mit.edu/news/inventor-creates-tiny-technologies-medicine-awarded-500000-lemelson-mit-prize Meigounpoory, M. R., & Ahmadi, B. (2012). dentification of the Factors that affect in choosing the university research commercialization strategies. IJRRAS, 12(1), 140-147. Office of Technology Assessment, O. (1995). Innovation and commercialization of emerging technologies. Washington DC: Congress of the U.S., Office of Technology Assessment. Raduan, C. R., Jegak, U., Haslinda, A., & Alimin, I. I. (2009). Management, Strategic Management Theories and the Linkage with Organizational Competitive Advantage from the Resource-Based View. European Journal of Social Sciences, 11(3), 402- 417. Scudder, R. (2011, August 8). What is Entrepreneurship? A Look at Theory. Retrieved from Bright Hub: http://www.brighthub.com/office/entrepreneurs/articles/78364.aspx Slater, S. F., & Mohr, J. J. (2006). Successful Development and Commercialization of Technological Innovation: Insights Based on Strategy Type. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 23(1), 26–33. Read More