April 1, 2021 • 23 mins
Heather Potters, co-founder of PharmaJet, is making vaccinations faster, easier and with less waste through her needle-free technology. She tells how Covid has made her work even more important.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Made by Women by the Seneca Women Podcast
Network and I Heart Radio. At a moment when businesses
face some of the biggest challenges in recent history, we
bring you inspiring stories, practical insights, and shared learnings to
help you successfully navigate in today's environment. I'm Kim Azzarelli,
(00:26):
and thanks so much for joining us today. Vaccines are
on everyone's mind these days, and when we think about vaccines,
we think needles. But what if needles aren't the best
way to deliver vaccines. One innovative company has developed a
needle free injection technology that's being used around the world
to vaccinate against polio, measles, and the flu. Heather Potters
(00:49):
and her company, pharma Jet, are looking to take needles
out of the equation. Pharma jets needle free devices eliminate
needlestick injuries, needle reuse and cross contamination, and they help
reduce sharp's waste disposal. They're also faster and easier to use.
I met Heather through Springboard Enterprises, an organization that for
(01:09):
twenty years has worked to accelerate the growth of women
led companies through access to essential resources and experts. I
sat down with Heather to discuss what it's like to
disrupt an industry and how covid has made needle free
injections even more essential. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Thanks so much for joining us. My pleasure. It's really
(01:31):
exciting to be able to share some of our story
with you. Just to get started, tell us a little
bit about farm a jet. Well, it's a needle free technology,
and we essentially form a fast fluid injection that goes
into your body and lessen about ten of a second,
so faster than your nervous system can respond. And this
(01:51):
fine fluid stream is less than the size of two
human hairs, So maybe you know by analogy is like
Star trek, right, a little bit of magic. But we're
able to flood the muscle or the subcutaneous tissue with
one of our devices, and with the other one the
intradermal tissue, so it's push and click. Anybody can do it.
(02:16):
And we take needles out of the equation so that
we can get rid of needle stick and hazards and
waste and risk there. Well, I think anybody listening to
this show, given the context that we're all living through
right now, really appreciates what you're trying to accomplish and
what you have accomplished, and I can't wait to get
more into it. But before we do, tell us a
little about your personal background. Did you always know you
(02:36):
wanted to start a company? Was this sort of in
your blood? Well, you know, it's funny because I have
a number of family members who are healthcare professionals of
all different kinds, and I think by osmosis, you know,
I was always interested in in science and biology and things.
I actually ended up having a career in private equity
after I finished business school. When the wall came down,
(02:59):
I moved to Warsaw, Poland, and I was part of
an experiment that essentially was hatched by President Bush Senior
and the chairman of bear Stearns and chairman of Dylan Reid,
so kind of good Republican, good Democrat, and Congress voted
to allocate funding to create closed in investment funds to
(03:20):
support the private sector development in a place that really
virtually had no private sector. So it was an exciting time.
And over a period of about twenty years, I was
responsible for three closed end funds and eventually Regional and
so we covered up to eighteen countries, although we only
probably did did deals in about half of them. But
(03:43):
it was wonderful exciting, you know. I learned the investment
world through essentially these early stage businesses or privatization situations
where it was really an odd time to be in
a specific microcosm of types of transactions. And so given
(04:05):
that I focused a lot on early stage, and given
that I also saw some magical things happen where you
could invest in something, create a great return, and see
some massive impact. There's way before impact is even you know,
kind of coined. Farmer Jet had all of those attributes
where if we were able to get rid of needle
(04:25):
hazards and frankly needle avoidance lets of people don't like needles.
If we could do that and we could focus on immunization,
which is a global standard of care, we could really
make a difference in the world. It was with all
those kind of great intentions and then the family background
that my mother and I actually co founded farmer Jet.
So we had on one side health care experience and
(04:48):
then on the other side investment management experience with early
stage development. So you spent all this time in private
equity and as you say, you have this sort of
family background in science and biology. What led you and
your mother to do this? I mean, how did you
come up with this idea, which you know, seems like
it would be a solution for everybody in the world.
Injection free vaccines, that sounds perfect. How did you come
(05:12):
up with this idea? We actually rose to the occasion
of addressing the World Health Organization all for action. So
from time to time they basically say to the world,
could somebody please do this? So in this case for
needle free they had used a really old technology that
was developed in the fifties and sixties by the US
(05:34):
government over time to immunize hundreds of millions of people
and actually eradicate smallpox. But that device, which was a
little scary, looked like a machine gun, probably a metal
tip on it, and it was pneumatic and force and
so in combination kind of one fluid path they would
go for patient to patient and potentially lacerated tissue. But
(05:57):
the end of that injector contributed to cross contamination of
things like hepatitis HIV, so it was actually banned from
use in the nineties, and then the debto witnessed a
very significant amount of needle reuse or depending upon the country,
and in some cases use needles cultivated from garbage jumps.
(06:20):
And so they had a shout out to the world,
could somebody please develop a needle free technology for immunization
that essentially eliminated the risk of reuse. We wrote to
that occasion, and there's been a lot of history there
and we can certainly tell you about our development, but
we still collaborate with the w h O and it's
really exciting to look back and see how far we've
(06:42):
come because we are the only w h O pre
qualified needle free technology in the world. And then we
also are part of their Global pol Eradication Initiative as
the device of choice to be able to help eradicate
that disease. Wow, that's kind of unbelievable. So tell us
the kind of journey of developing this and kind of
(07:03):
where you are and where you were when COVID came
onto the scene. It's, you know, kind of careful what
you wish for. Although nobody wants to have a pandemic.
It made farm a jet very very relevant. You know,
all of a sudden, the whole world woke up and said,
you're right, immunization is linked to global prosperity and the
health and welfare and productivity of people. So um we
(07:28):
had amassed already a number of achievements that provided the
credibility for us to collaborate with a number of companies.
So just the quick snapshot of where we are, we
have two device platforms, fully scaled, regulatory clearance for all
three tissue depths. We are registered in forty two countries
and have all key credentials like f d A, CE mark,
(07:50):
h O, lots of patents, and then we had already
been used in more than sixty clinical studies with more
than seventy underway, so a lot of data including clinical claims,
meaning that you know, we've proven safety, efficacy, non inferiority
and sometimes superiority in immune response. So as a bucket
(08:11):
of kind of credibility. We then amassed more than eighteen
COVID collaboration partners in the world during the course of
last year. And while not all of them will make
it to the market, one now has accelerated and this
in the middle of their Phase three study, and we're
scaling to a level of about two hundred and fifty
(08:33):
million needle free shots for them currently, so we're extraordinarily excited.
But even more than that, part of pharma Jet's value
is that we've been able to prove that in a
certain kind of vaccine, nucleic acid vaccines, so messenger are
NAM DNA you now household names that we make, those
vaccines typically work better several fold higher immune response versus needles.
(08:58):
So this particular partner we have has chosen our intradermal product,
so in other words, less vaccine injected into the skin
versus the muscle, and then a DNA candidate where it
has no cold chain issues, and consequently will be positioned
as probably the lowest cost vaccine in the entire world
(09:19):
that can serve basically any market because it again doesn't
have massive cold chain challenges like the FISERM Madarana vaccines.
So we're very, very excited, and there may be more
that come to market and where we may be included
in other vaccine approvals as an alternative method of administration.
(09:39):
But it's really exciting times for us. Wow, congratulations, I mean,
did you ever think looking back that you could have
this level of impact. I mean, you talked about your
twenty years of private equity, you know after the wall
came down, but did you ever think you would be
responsible for this level of impact. No, I honestly, you
(09:59):
know realize, or realized when we started that there was
no way we were going to replace needles everywhere. But gosh,
if we can make an impact, then that being important.
And yet the glimmer of making vaccines work better became
a repeating theme for us, and so our entire team
of from people which are just unbelievably qualified abouks medical
(10:23):
device professionals and engineers and clinicians and things like that.
I think the entire team we have and our investor
base realizes that we are at this pivotal moment right
now where we can set such massive precedence in the
world and bringing forward solutions that don't exist. So besides
(10:44):
COVID and and particularly again a nucleic acid vaccine and
cancer therapies, we have more than one and forty distinct
development programs with about sixty pharmaceutical partners in the world
where eventually, when these developments may come to market, they
might not work with needles at all. So we can
(11:06):
actually create a kind of a new paradigm. Again, we're
not going to replace needles everywhere by any means, but
we can certainly help facilitate addressing diseases that don't today
have treatments or cures. We'll be back with Seneca's made
by women after this short break. Well, you certainly have
(11:35):
accomplished a tremendous amount, and what you're tackling is pretty enormous,
I've got to believe. I mean, the way you talk
about it, it sounds really obviously so methodical and well
thought through, But I can only imagine how hard it
is to change systems like this. What has that been like? Well,
there are a bunch of pharmajet fans that have been
(11:58):
certainly lending us helping hands are or time. But the
truth is is if I told you that we could
reduce the dose of your vaccine by by moving from
the muscle to the skin, and you're the person who's
supposed to sell a lot of that vaccine, you might
not be so excited about that, right, But if I
(12:18):
talked to the person who works in your company that's
in the laboratory that's creating brand new things, you might
be really excited about that. So we have been able
to find a path forward where we collaborate with large pharma,
small pharma, academic and geo and then government organizations because
(12:39):
for instance, in the United States government we have several
collaborations where they're developing vaccines in some of their laboratories.
So we we just keep on and keep on trying
to make sure that we do the right thing and
find extra value for someone. And that tends to work
out in the sense that if we and lower the
(13:01):
cost of delivery, if we can make an impact, and
where we can make something work that might not work
very well with needles, somewhere, somebody's going to find value
in that. And that's why I think that particularly with
these novel developments, we'll find that farmaship becomes the only
solution in certain cases, including cancer treatments, where we see
(13:22):
one of our partnerships cancer disappear altogether and it doesn't
work with needles. Wow, that's also incredible. So you know,
in these kind of darker moments when you have to
face you know, there's always difficult moments in entrepreneurship, but
I can only imagine to your point, when you're trying
to convince people who you know will be somehow losing
(13:43):
the ability to sell more vaccine at higher doses. I mean,
what what do you do in those difficult times? And
who do you turn to? I guess you've co founded
it with your mother, which is pretty unique. But what
do you do to get through those times? Um? I
was spending of this You mentioned that because she's of
course might go to person to wine. Um. And everybody
has the right to to find you know, their their
best buddy to to just call and and say how
(14:06):
excited they are, how to add or disappointed they are.
So it hasn't been completely easy along the way, and
there have been some setbacks that we've weathered. UM. But
I think because I'm a glass half full person and
and the market opportunity is so profound, uh that, yeah,
you have to shoot high and and if you get
(14:29):
only halfway there, I mean, look look at the progress, right.
You have to appreciate the progress that's been made. And
then I think underlying all of this, it's not just
because we came up with an idea and thought it
was cool. There's a lot of science and rigor and
regulatory um that goes with this. And if our device
didn't stand on its own, we absolutely wouldn't be in
(14:51):
a place where we are today. So uh, I like
to use the analogy of you know, cars. We've all
been driving cars for a really time, and yet the
technology today enables able to drive electric and hybrid cars.
So we're kind of like that. It's it's not that
everybody is going to be driving an electric or hybrid card,
(15:13):
and not everybody's going to be using needle free, but
there's a really significant role we can play and that's
what keeps us going and invigorated. And I'd say also too,
we destined or maybe defined, I guess, our approach to
global immunization. The vast majority of immunization volumes are outside
the United States. I think there's about one point five
(15:34):
million children born each year in the US and compared
to about a hundred and forty million everywhere else. So consequently,
if a child is not provided with a certain standard
number of immunizations about six of them, chances are they
won't make it or they will be severely affected by
a disease can't walk, can't see, can't hear, which drags
(15:56):
down the economic welfare of a family and a community.
So for us to be able to um provide basic
healthcare through immunization needle free in a safe manner anywhere
in the world contributes to everybody because disease is borderless,
as we all know because of COVID of course, So
(16:19):
that's also part of the reason why we do what
we do. At the end of the day, we want
to make a huge difference, a huge impact of the world.
So you've participated in Springboard Enterprises, which is really a
network for women entrepreneurs. How has that been important to you?
And farm a jet? You know, I have nothing but
amazingly wonderful price for Springboard. I'm so excited that they've
(16:43):
been able to connect us here today K couple of
bits and any Milman and everyone else that you know
helps look after not only you know, new classes, but
alumni just do an extraordinary job of lifting people up.
And when we applied to the Board network was two
thousand and nine, Class of two thousand and nine. It
(17:04):
wasn't a pivotal time for us because we had one
of our first real use cases after our first FDA
approval during H one N one with Homeland Security, and
it was joy to be able to tell everybody that
not only did we created but it works at works,
It works and it's in use that pivotal moment for
us gave us the aha of this will have a future.
(17:28):
We saw that we could get extra doses out of
the bials we've engineered out all the waste, more people
standing in the needle free line, etcetera, etcetera, faster patient processing,
and needle pelbic people willing to take a shot. So
coming back to Springboard, we were on stage at that
time in front of investors. Now the timing was mismatched
(17:48):
because the world had crashed and many of the investors
actually weren't investing money, but it was an uplifting time
where we were then incorporated in as any Springboard networks
and events that we might or might not be able
to take advantage of by virtue of being an alumni
(18:11):
and um the fact that they coordinate and not only
help match make but but really solicit engagement from the
alumni network to reach out and support each other as
well as you know, kind of new class members. I
think has created a stunning organization that stands on its
(18:32):
own with amazing statistics of really generating successful investments and
returns and businesses and then of course generated by or
led by women, and and it's today is an obvious
thing to talk about supportive women, but it wasn't so
(18:54):
obvious not so long ago. So I think that their
bold leadership is has really created a precedent that's just
a shining star and shining example. So I'm very, very
proud to be a springboard a lum. So for women
out there who are listening to the show and they're
thinking about starting their own company, is there something that
you would share right now, especially in these difficult times,
(19:16):
about how to look forward? You said you're a glassful person.
How do you tackle something this big as starting your
own company when it's not always so easy? I say
that under all circumstances, it's never easy, and it's really scary.
So being bold and getting past that fear obviously is
one one aspect, But the second one is probably you know,
(19:37):
it's it's not that just because you're a woman means
that you should have support. It's probably that because your
idea has merit, it deserves support. And I'm one to
say I think that women work harder. I think that
they have a different quotation of emotional intelligence that they
(19:57):
add to their business, you know, for focus. But it
doesn't mean that it's only about women, right, It's about
a movement behind a business activity. So one of the
pieces of advice would be, well, one, make sure your
your idea stands on its own, uh to gather the
best group of supporters together that you can can gather,
(20:19):
whether or not that's some seed capital. Friends and family,
family members believe in you. They know you'll work your
boat off. But along the way double and triple check
because it's we're in this unprecedented time of being able
to quickly develop ideas, launched best practice learned from others,
(20:40):
this you know, stunning pace of innovation. And yet at
the same time we're also in an interesting time where
things change so fast that before you know it, you
may have either missed the boat or if you're not
fast enough in in you know, kind of modifying your
trajectory appropriately that that somebody might run you over. So
(21:00):
it's it's not to be taken you know, lightly at all.
But if you have organizations like a springboard that serve
again as a shining example of holding very deserving, promising
ideas and women up, I think that's where you where
one would should gravitate learn from others and and typically
(21:24):
from my perspective of everything is showing up and then
the rest is really hard work. So I don't know
that anybody would say it differently, but that's my perspective.
None of it, of what we've developed, has been easy.
But if it were easy, everybody would be doing it.
And it's it's um that delicate balance. Well, Heather, thank
you so much for joining us and really for everything
(21:46):
you're doing to tackle this issue. I mean, you are
really it's a true breakthrough and and we're excited to
follow what happens. Well, thanks, Um, We appreciate you cheering
us on really really do. That's invigorating for us, exciting
for us. I'd like to thank Heather for sharing her
incredible story about finding success with Farmer Jet. Here are
(22:08):
three things I took from the conversation. First, in entrepreneurship,
optimism and perseverance are critical to helping you move forward.
As Heather says, when the going gets tough, that's the
time to look back and appreciate the progress you've already made. Second,
focus on the value your product brings to others. For Heather,
(22:29):
for pivotal moment came when she was able to show
vaccine manufacturers that her device used less vaccine and that
was a good thing. Farmer Jet was actually reducing waste
and expense for those companies. Finally, surround yourself with people
who believe in you and your ideas. Heather advises aspiring
entrepreneurs to form a support system through their network and
(22:50):
even their family. Finding others who share your vision and
share your values can give you the energy you need
to move forward. Made by Women is Ought to you
by the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio,
with support from founding partner PNG
Welcome to Made by Women by the Seneca Women Podcast
Network and I Heart Radio. At a moment when businesses
face some of the biggest challenges in recent history, we
bring you inspiring stories, practical insights, and shared learnings to
help you successfully navigate in today's environment. I'm Kim Azzarelli,
(00:26):
and thanks so much for joining us today. Vaccines are
on everyone's mind these days, and when we think about vaccines,
we think needles. But what if needles aren't the best
way to deliver vaccines. One innovative company has developed a
needle free injection technology that's being used around the world
to vaccinate against polio, measles, and the flu. Heather Potters
(00:49):
and her company, pharma Jet, are looking to take needles
out of the equation. Pharma jets needle free devices eliminate
needlestick injuries, needle reuse and cross contamination, and they help
reduce sharp's waste disposal. They're also faster and easier to use.
I met Heather through Springboard Enterprises, an organization that for
(01:09):
twenty years has worked to accelerate the growth of women
led companies through access to essential resources and experts. I
sat down with Heather to discuss what it's like to
disrupt an industry and how covid has made needle free
injections even more essential. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Thanks so much for joining us. My pleasure. It's really
(01:31):
exciting to be able to share some of our story
with you. Just to get started, tell us a little
bit about farm a jet. Well, it's a needle free technology,
and we essentially form a fast fluid injection that goes
into your body and lessen about ten of a second,
so faster than your nervous system can respond. And this
(01:51):
fine fluid stream is less than the size of two
human hairs, So maybe you know by analogy is like
Star trek, right, a little bit of magic. But we're
able to flood the muscle or the subcutaneous tissue with
one of our devices, and with the other one the
intradermal tissue, so it's push and click. Anybody can do it.
(02:16):
And we take needles out of the equation so that
we can get rid of needle stick and hazards and
waste and risk there. Well, I think anybody listening to
this show, given the context that we're all living through
right now, really appreciates what you're trying to accomplish and
what you have accomplished, and I can't wait to get
more into it. But before we do, tell us a
little about your personal background. Did you always know you
(02:36):
wanted to start a company? Was this sort of in
your blood? Well, you know, it's funny because I have
a number of family members who are healthcare professionals of
all different kinds, and I think by osmosis, you know,
I was always interested in in science and biology and things.
I actually ended up having a career in private equity
after I finished business school. When the wall came down,
(02:59):
I moved to Warsaw, Poland, and I was part of
an experiment that essentially was hatched by President Bush Senior
and the chairman of bear Stearns and chairman of Dylan Reid,
so kind of good Republican, good Democrat, and Congress voted
to allocate funding to create closed in investment funds to
(03:20):
support the private sector development in a place that really
virtually had no private sector. So it was an exciting time.
And over a period of about twenty years, I was
responsible for three closed end funds and eventually Regional and
so we covered up to eighteen countries, although we only
probably did did deals in about half of them. But
(03:43):
it was wonderful exciting, you know. I learned the investment
world through essentially these early stage businesses or privatization situations
where it was really an odd time to be in
a specific microcosm of types of transactions. And so given
(04:05):
that I focused a lot on early stage, and given
that I also saw some magical things happen where you
could invest in something, create a great return, and see
some massive impact. There's way before impact is even you know,
kind of coined. Farmer Jet had all of those attributes
where if we were able to get rid of needle
(04:25):
hazards and frankly needle avoidance lets of people don't like needles.
If we could do that and we could focus on immunization,
which is a global standard of care, we could really
make a difference in the world. It was with all
those kind of great intentions and then the family background
that my mother and I actually co founded farmer Jet.
So we had on one side health care experience and
(04:48):
then on the other side investment management experience with early
stage development. So you spent all this time in private
equity and as you say, you have this sort of
family background in science and biology. What led you and
your mother to do this? I mean, how did you
come up with this idea, which you know, seems like
it would be a solution for everybody in the world.
Injection free vaccines, that sounds perfect. How did you come
(05:12):
up with this idea? We actually rose to the occasion
of addressing the World Health Organization all for action. So
from time to time they basically say to the world,
could somebody please do this? So in this case for
needle free they had used a really old technology that
was developed in the fifties and sixties by the US
(05:34):
government over time to immunize hundreds of millions of people
and actually eradicate smallpox. But that device, which was a
little scary, looked like a machine gun, probably a metal
tip on it, and it was pneumatic and force and
so in combination kind of one fluid path they would
go for patient to patient and potentially lacerated tissue. But
(05:57):
the end of that injector contributed to cross contamination of
things like hepatitis HIV, so it was actually banned from
use in the nineties, and then the debto witnessed a
very significant amount of needle reuse or depending upon the country,
and in some cases use needles cultivated from garbage jumps.
(06:20):
And so they had a shout out to the world,
could somebody please develop a needle free technology for immunization
that essentially eliminated the risk of reuse. We wrote to
that occasion, and there's been a lot of history there
and we can certainly tell you about our development, but
we still collaborate with the w h O and it's
really exciting to look back and see how far we've
(06:42):
come because we are the only w h O pre
qualified needle free technology in the world. And then we
also are part of their Global pol Eradication Initiative as
the device of choice to be able to help eradicate
that disease. Wow, that's kind of unbelievable. So tell us
the kind of journey of developing this and kind of
(07:03):
where you are and where you were when COVID came
onto the scene. It's, you know, kind of careful what
you wish for. Although nobody wants to have a pandemic.
It made farm a jet very very relevant. You know,
all of a sudden, the whole world woke up and said,
you're right, immunization is linked to global prosperity and the
health and welfare and productivity of people. So um we
(07:28):
had amassed already a number of achievements that provided the
credibility for us to collaborate with a number of companies.
So just the quick snapshot of where we are, we
have two device platforms, fully scaled, regulatory clearance for all
three tissue depths. We are registered in forty two countries
and have all key credentials like f d A, CE mark,
(07:50):
h O, lots of patents, and then we had already
been used in more than sixty clinical studies with more
than seventy underway, so a lot of data including clinical claims,
meaning that you know, we've proven safety, efficacy, non inferiority
and sometimes superiority in immune response. So as a bucket
(08:11):
of kind of credibility. We then amassed more than eighteen
COVID collaboration partners in the world during the course of
last year. And while not all of them will make
it to the market, one now has accelerated and this
in the middle of their Phase three study, and we're
scaling to a level of about two hundred and fifty
(08:33):
million needle free shots for them currently, so we're extraordinarily excited.
But even more than that, part of pharma Jet's value
is that we've been able to prove that in a
certain kind of vaccine, nucleic acid vaccines, so messenger are
NAM DNA you now household names that we make, those
vaccines typically work better several fold higher immune response versus needles.
(08:58):
So this particular partner we have has chosen our intradermal product,
so in other words, less vaccine injected into the skin
versus the muscle, and then a DNA candidate where it
has no cold chain issues, and consequently will be positioned
as probably the lowest cost vaccine in the entire world
(09:19):
that can serve basically any market because it again doesn't
have massive cold chain challenges like the FISERM Madarana vaccines.
So we're very, very excited, and there may be more
that come to market and where we may be included
in other vaccine approvals as an alternative method of administration.
(09:39):
But it's really exciting times for us. Wow, congratulations, I mean,
did you ever think looking back that you could have
this level of impact. I mean, you talked about your
twenty years of private equity, you know after the wall
came down, but did you ever think you would be
responsible for this level of impact. No, I honestly, you
(09:59):
know realize, or realized when we started that there was
no way we were going to replace needles everywhere. But gosh,
if we can make an impact, then that being important.
And yet the glimmer of making vaccines work better became
a repeating theme for us, and so our entire team
of from people which are just unbelievably qualified abouks medical
(10:23):
device professionals and engineers and clinicians and things like that.
I think the entire team we have and our investor
base realizes that we are at this pivotal moment right
now where we can set such massive precedence in the
world and bringing forward solutions that don't exist. So besides
(10:44):
COVID and and particularly again a nucleic acid vaccine and
cancer therapies, we have more than one and forty distinct
development programs with about sixty pharmaceutical partners in the world
where eventually, when these developments may come to market, they
might not work with needles at all. So we can
(11:06):
actually create a kind of a new paradigm. Again, we're
not going to replace needles everywhere by any means, but
we can certainly help facilitate addressing diseases that don't today
have treatments or cures. We'll be back with Seneca's made
by women after this short break. Well, you certainly have
(11:35):
accomplished a tremendous amount, and what you're tackling is pretty enormous,
I've got to believe. I mean, the way you talk
about it, it sounds really obviously so methodical and well
thought through, But I can only imagine how hard it
is to change systems like this. What has that been like? Well,
there are a bunch of pharmajet fans that have been
(11:58):
certainly lending us helping hands are or time. But the
truth is is if I told you that we could
reduce the dose of your vaccine by by moving from
the muscle to the skin, and you're the person who's
supposed to sell a lot of that vaccine, you might
not be so excited about that, right, But if I
(12:18):
talked to the person who works in your company that's
in the laboratory that's creating brand new things, you might
be really excited about that. So we have been able
to find a path forward where we collaborate with large pharma,
small pharma, academic and geo and then government organizations because
(12:39):
for instance, in the United States government we have several
collaborations where they're developing vaccines in some of their laboratories.
So we we just keep on and keep on trying
to make sure that we do the right thing and
find extra value for someone. And that tends to work
out in the sense that if we and lower the
(13:01):
cost of delivery, if we can make an impact, and
where we can make something work that might not work
very well with needles, somewhere, somebody's going to find value
in that. And that's why I think that particularly with
these novel developments, we'll find that farmaship becomes the only
solution in certain cases, including cancer treatments, where we see
(13:22):
one of our partnerships cancer disappear altogether and it doesn't
work with needles. Wow, that's also incredible. So you know,
in these kind of darker moments when you have to
face you know, there's always difficult moments in entrepreneurship, but
I can only imagine to your point, when you're trying
to convince people who you know will be somehow losing
(13:43):
the ability to sell more vaccine at higher doses. I mean,
what what do you do in those difficult times? And
who do you turn to? I guess you've co founded
it with your mother, which is pretty unique. But what
do you do to get through those times? Um? I
was spending of this You mentioned that because she's of
course might go to person to wine. Um. And everybody
has the right to to find you know, their their
best buddy to to just call and and say how
(14:06):
excited they are, how to add or disappointed they are.
So it hasn't been completely easy along the way, and
there have been some setbacks that we've weathered. UM. But
I think because I'm a glass half full person and
and the market opportunity is so profound, uh that, yeah,
you have to shoot high and and if you get
(14:29):
only halfway there, I mean, look look at the progress, right.
You have to appreciate the progress that's been made. And
then I think underlying all of this, it's not just
because we came up with an idea and thought it
was cool. There's a lot of science and rigor and
regulatory um that goes with this. And if our device
didn't stand on its own, we absolutely wouldn't be in
(14:51):
a place where we are today. So uh, I like
to use the analogy of you know, cars. We've all
been driving cars for a really time, and yet the
technology today enables able to drive electric and hybrid cars.
So we're kind of like that. It's it's not that
everybody is going to be driving an electric or hybrid card,
(15:13):
and not everybody's going to be using needle free, but
there's a really significant role we can play and that's
what keeps us going and invigorated. And I'd say also too,
we destined or maybe defined, I guess, our approach to
global immunization. The vast majority of immunization volumes are outside
the United States. I think there's about one point five
(15:34):
million children born each year in the US and compared
to about a hundred and forty million everywhere else. So consequently,
if a child is not provided with a certain standard
number of immunizations about six of them, chances are they
won't make it or they will be severely affected by
a disease can't walk, can't see, can't hear, which drags
(15:56):
down the economic welfare of a family and a community.
So for us to be able to um provide basic
healthcare through immunization needle free in a safe manner anywhere
in the world contributes to everybody because disease is borderless,
as we all know because of COVID of course, So
(16:19):
that's also part of the reason why we do what
we do. At the end of the day, we want
to make a huge difference, a huge impact of the world.
So you've participated in Springboard Enterprises, which is really a
network for women entrepreneurs. How has that been important to you?
And farm a jet? You know, I have nothing but
amazingly wonderful price for Springboard. I'm so excited that they've
(16:43):
been able to connect us here today K couple of
bits and any Milman and everyone else that you know
helps look after not only you know, new classes, but
alumni just do an extraordinary job of lifting people up.
And when we applied to the Board network was two
thousand and nine, Class of two thousand and nine. It
(17:04):
wasn't a pivotal time for us because we had one
of our first real use cases after our first FDA
approval during H one N one with Homeland Security, and
it was joy to be able to tell everybody that
not only did we created but it works at works,
It works and it's in use that pivotal moment for
us gave us the aha of this will have a future.
(17:28):
We saw that we could get extra doses out of
the bials we've engineered out all the waste, more people
standing in the needle free line, etcetera, etcetera, faster patient processing,
and needle pelbic people willing to take a shot. So
coming back to Springboard, we were on stage at that
time in front of investors. Now the timing was mismatched
(17:48):
because the world had crashed and many of the investors
actually weren't investing money, but it was an uplifting time
where we were then incorporated in as any Springboard networks
and events that we might or might not be able
to take advantage of by virtue of being an alumni
(18:11):
and um the fact that they coordinate and not only
help match make but but really solicit engagement from the
alumni network to reach out and support each other as
well as you know, kind of new class members. I
think has created a stunning organization that stands on its
(18:32):
own with amazing statistics of really generating successful investments and
returns and businesses and then of course generated by or
led by women, and and it's today is an obvious
thing to talk about supportive women, but it wasn't so
(18:54):
obvious not so long ago. So I think that their
bold leadership is has really created a precedent that's just
a shining star and shining example. So I'm very, very
proud to be a springboard a lum. So for women
out there who are listening to the show and they're
thinking about starting their own company, is there something that
you would share right now, especially in these difficult times,
(19:16):
about how to look forward? You said you're a glassful person.
How do you tackle something this big as starting your
own company when it's not always so easy? I say
that under all circumstances, it's never easy, and it's really scary.
So being bold and getting past that fear obviously is
one one aspect, But the second one is probably you know,
(19:37):
it's it's not that just because you're a woman means
that you should have support. It's probably that because your
idea has merit, it deserves support. And I'm one to
say I think that women work harder. I think that
they have a different quotation of emotional intelligence that they
(19:57):
add to their business, you know, for focus. But it
doesn't mean that it's only about women, right, It's about
a movement behind a business activity. So one of the
pieces of advice would be, well, one, make sure your
your idea stands on its own, uh to gather the
best group of supporters together that you can can gather,
(20:19):
whether or not that's some seed capital. Friends and family,
family members believe in you. They know you'll work your
boat off. But along the way double and triple check
because it's we're in this unprecedented time of being able
to quickly develop ideas, launched best practice learned from others,
(20:40):
this you know, stunning pace of innovation. And yet at
the same time we're also in an interesting time where
things change so fast that before you know it, you
may have either missed the boat or if you're not
fast enough in in you know, kind of modifying your
trajectory appropriately that that somebody might run you over. So
(21:00):
it's it's not to be taken you know, lightly at all.
But if you have organizations like a springboard that serve
again as a shining example of holding very deserving, promising
ideas and women up, I think that's where you where
one would should gravitate learn from others and and typically
(21:24):
from my perspective of everything is showing up and then
the rest is really hard work. So I don't know
that anybody would say it differently, but that's my perspective.
None of it, of what we've developed, has been easy.
But if it were easy, everybody would be doing it.
And it's it's um that delicate balance. Well, Heather, thank
you so much for joining us and really for everything
(21:46):
you're doing to tackle this issue. I mean, you are
really it's a true breakthrough and and we're excited to
follow what happens. Well, thanks, Um, We appreciate you cheering
us on really really do. That's invigorating for us, exciting
for us. I'd like to thank Heather for sharing her
incredible story about finding success with Farmer Jet. Here are
(22:08):
three things I took from the conversation. First, in entrepreneurship,
optimism and perseverance are critical to helping you move forward.
As Heather says, when the going gets tough, that's the
time to look back and appreciate the progress you've already made. Second,
focus on the value your product brings to others. For Heather,
(22:29):
for pivotal moment came when she was able to show
vaccine manufacturers that her device used less vaccine and that
was a good thing. Farmer Jet was actually reducing waste
and expense for those companies. Finally, surround yourself with people
who believe in you and your ideas. Heather advises aspiring
entrepreneurs to form a support system through their network and
(22:50):
even their family. Finding others who share your vision and
share your values can give you the energy you need
to move forward. Made by Women is Ought to you
by the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio,
with support from founding partner PNG
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