Who We Are

Efraim (Eric) Katz Turning Inventions into Sales
in the US Healthtech Market

In my own words,

I speed up the path from discovery to market, mostly by translating the demands of government regulators and payers into the languages of inventors, investors and company leadership

Regulatory policy in healthcare is a big field, with lots of great players. Where’s my unique contribution, my “secret sauce”? Clients say it’s my ability to translate from one corner of healthcare to another, a skill I learned when I moved to Medicare headquarters from FDA policy, and then fine-tuned in private consulting.

FDA reviewers ask, “is it safe” … but Medicare asks, is it reasonable and necessary for patients.
Doctors ask, “will it cure patients” … but patients ask, is it easy to use.
Move on to biostatisticians (was the trial large enough), investors (first out of the pipeline), insurers (short-term savings), and a dozen other interested parties.

Ouch.

It’s no wonder they’re often talking past each other: they’re all looking at different questions. That’s where I love to step in – cases where a business plan needs more translation, inclusiveness to succeed.

Here are some credentials for my ability to translate across so many disciplines:

USA lawyer – understand regulations
Medicare and FDA policy – speak like a bureaucrat
Fulbright Fellow – public health researcher

Medicare policy – mastery in coverage and reimbursement
Wharton-trained – value-seeking analyst
Journal author – an eye for peer-reviewed science

So, show me a product in development, and I’ll help build a compelling case for each audience and discipline. For regulators to approve it, investors to fund it, payers to cover it. And when there’s a glitch in the road ahead, I’m the GPS to navigate a route through Washington’s bureaucracy.

Good translation might not be rocket science, but without it, a pitch deck can sound great to the scientist-entrepreneur yet leave an Angel investor completely numb.

Check out my CV on the website for more specifics.

PS: US healthcare regulation runs on three-letter acronyms. Simply listing the ones I use regularly might give another peek into my professional focus. So: FDA, CMS, NIH, HHS, AHRQ*, DEA, DoJ, SEC, OIG, EMA, NICE*. And then there’s NCD & LCD; ASP & AWP; CPT & ICD; ACO & MSSP*, IND & NDA; 510(k) & PMA; 505(b), (c) & (j); 340B. Add some buzzwords that don’t (yet) have easy acronyms: Medicare reimbursement, Medicaid drug rebates, technology add-on payments, breakthrough drug status, orphan drugs, biosimilars, FDA nonpatent exclusivity, preventive services task force, Senate HELP Committee, White House pharma task force.

*Some three-letter acronyms (TLAs) actually have four letters; I told you translating the bureaucracy wasn’t easy!