November 17, 2022 • 29 mins
Mauricio A. Berdugo, MD, MPH, is currently the Director of Medical Affairs at Humacyte, Inc. Mauricio has worked in different capacities within the CRO, pharma, diagnostics, and biotech industries in the USA and globally, including Latin America, Europe, and Asia over the past 9 years. His clinical and academic research stems from HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, renal disease, and orthopedic spine surgery. Mauricio graduated from medical school at the Universidad Evangelica de El Salvador, completed his Master of Public Health degree from Kaplan University, and he is currently pursuing a Fellowship with the American College of Healthcare Executives.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Latin MedTech Leaders podcast, a
conversation with Metech leaderswho have succeeded or plan to
succeed in Latin America.
Please subscribe on yourfavorite podcasting platform.
Apple Podcast, Spotify, GooglePodcast.
Amazon Music is teacher.
Tune in.
I heard radio, Pandora, or theseare welcome to the Latin Metech
(00:22):
Leaders podcast, a conversationswith leaders who have succeeded
or plan to succeed in LatinAmerica.
Today our guest is MauricioBargo, MD mph.
Mauricio is currently thedirector of medical affairs at
homicide.
I hope I'm pronouncing thisright,.
(00:43):
And he has worked in differentcapacities within the cro Pharma
diagnostics and biotechindustries in the United States
and globally, including LatinAmerica, Europe, in Asia for, um
, for the past nine, 10 years.
So, Maurices, it's great to haveyou here in the show.
Welcome.
Thank
Speaker 2 (00:59):
You very much.
It's a pleasure to be here withyou.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Excellent, Mauricio.
So, I'm so looking so much, uh,looking forward to this
conversation today.
You are originally from CentralAmerica, and I'm very curious
about your journey.
Tell us about your journey towhere you are today and your
journey to Latin America.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, interestingly enough, my journey started in
the United States.
Uh, I was raised in the UnitedStates, but I had the
opportunity, uh, to go to, uh,El Salvador for medical school,
uh, and which was a, you know, aphenomenal experience for me.
Uh, learning a little bit moreabout my own culture, uh, you
know, where my ancestors camefrom, my family came from.
I was actually born there, wereraised in the United States,
(01:37):
but, uh, the, uh, importantthings that I got to know, uh,
what the healthcare situation isoutside of the United States,
which is something that I'm veryforeign to.
So it was not only a, a cultureshock, should I say, for an
American kid to go to, uh, hiscountry of origin, but to learn
how things work, uh, politicallyand in the healthcare, uh, uh,
(01:57):
industry, uh, outside of theUnited States.
Uh, so after graduation frommedical school, I came back to
the United States and I startedworking, uh, in, in a different
clinical, uh, positions.
But eventually I decided toembark an academic journey, uh,
in, uh, in, in healthcare, uh,principally in, uh, pulmonary,
cardiovascular and spine surgeryresearch, uh, which brought me
(02:20):
to, to this industry.
And that's when I started togrow, uh, within the therapeutic
areas that, you know, that Inow, uh, and have worked with in
the past.
So, it's been a pretty longjourney.
It's been a very interestingjourney.
Uh, and, uh, and, and maybe toanswer your question about how I
got involved, uh, in the LatinAmerica, uh, you know, side of
things was, uh, once I, I gotinto the diagnostic space,
(02:41):
that's really where I had theopportunity to work globally.
And I worked with different, uh,uh, people, wonderful people
from different countries.
Uh, and, and I learned a lotabout, uh, you know, what the
policies are in each country.
Every country's different.
Uh, you know, it's, there's noone cookie cutter, uh, way to,
uh, to do things.
And so you really get a goodperspective about, you know, how
to work in each individualregion.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Excellent, Mauricio.
All right.
So let's talk about trends.
What do you see happening inLatin America from the
political, economical, or socialstandpoint that, that is
relevant to our discussiontoday?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
You know, without maybe getting into too many, uh,
details, but I think politicallythere, I think just the same as
the around the world, there's alot of political unrest.
Uh, you know, there's a lot of,uh, different ideas, different,
uh, ideologies, uh, thatpredominate, uh, with different,
uh, you know, governments anddifferent administrations.
(03:37):
Uh, I don't think it's anydifferent than here in the
United States, but I think whatthe most important, uh, thing in
Latin America is the level of,uh, poverty, uh, and the level
of angst, uh, you know, from,from different people.
Uh, not so much, you know,about, you know, what are they
gonna do, uh, with their newgovernments.
But, you know, economicallyit's, it, it's, it's a very
(03:58):
difficult situation, uh,politically obviously it's a
difficult situation, but I thinksocially as well, uh, there's a
lot of division and, and so thatimpacts, uh, many sectors of, uh
, of society in Latin America.
And, and I have personally seen,uh, that that divide.
And so, uh, you know, it, it'sreally a difficult situation in
(04:19):
some countries.
It's better in other countries,it's not.
Uh, but, uh, there's a lot ofunrest, uh, right now all over
the world.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yes, yes.
Agree.
Well, you're bringing up aninteresting point,, I
don't know if it is a curse or,or, or, or a blessing for Latin
America, but, um, you see a lotof populist governments in the
region, Argentina, uh, now Peru,uh, of course, Venezuela in, in,
(04:46):
uh, Mexico, et cetera, in, in,in Columbia is about to have an
election.
And there is a populist, um,candidate, very strong.
So what this means is that, uh,you see a lot of government
programs, including healthcareprograms that benefit the whole
population in, you know, one wayor another.
(05:07):
So, as I said, I don't know ifit is a course or a blessing,
but, uh, but the train in LatinAmerica, or the historic, um,
behavior of the region has beenuniversal healthcare system for
everybody.
So I guess that, that, um,facilitates, uh, the, the, the
(05:28):
access, uh, to the system and,and then the, uh, increases the
coverage and, and also makes itattractive for companies to, um,
to sell products, uh, to, tonational healthcare systems.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah.
No, I agree.
And, and actually in somecountries you'll have the
universal healthcare system, butthen there are also private
systems that, that, that alsowork, and then also the social
security, uh, healthcare systemsthat some countries have.
Uh, and so there is a little bitof a, I'd say, benefit, you
know, to having, to being, uh,able to afford into those
programs.
(06:03):
But for the most part, you'reright, it's universal healthcare
, and whether it's good or badfor the population, uh, you know
, I'm sure that they're improve,you know, improvements that can
be made, you know, all around.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
And also something that I'veseen happening in the region
just happen in Columbiarecently, is that, um, recently,
we're probably talking aboutthree, four years ago, uh, it's,
uh, that healthcare is aconstitutional right.
So, um, you have the, the, theright as a Columbian citizen to,
(06:35):
to have access to the healthcaresystem.
And, uh, reimbursement is prettymuch a guarantee for any product
that you wanna, that, that youneed for your medical care.
So, um, that's, that's certainlya trend that is increasing in,
in, in the region.
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
All right.
So Mauricio, let's speak aboutyour, uh, practical experience,
your field experience in thedifferent countries in the
region.
Let's, let's, uh, speak aboutMexico, Columbia, and, and
anywhere else in Latin Americawhere you travel and, and you
were able to, to, uh, work and,and, uh, experience how to do
(07:16):
business in each country.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, interestingly enough, the, uh, countries that
I worked, uh, with the most, uh,were in Columbia, uh, Argentina,
uh, Chile, uh, and with Mexico,I, I did some work indirectly,
worked with a lot of greatpeople, uh, didn't, uh, I didn't
have the opportunity to go, uh,to, uh, Mexico physically, but I
was there virtually quite a lot,.
(07:39):
Uh, but, uh, interestinglyenough, uh, in South America,
the markets, uh, have, uh, beenvery, uh, diverse, especially in
Columbia, uh, where you have, uh, different medical systems
that, uh, that are, are, areworking.
Regulatory agencies are verydifferent, uh, in Columbia,
where, uh, if you wanna bring aproduct there, you really do
have to show, uh, the regulatoryagencies, uh, the, the benefits,
(08:05):
uh, in, in the clinical trialoutcomes, uh, for the product.
And they, you know, if, ifeverything looks good, they
really, they, you know, they exthey approve things pretty
quickly.
Uh, and, uh, without so muchdelay, uh, in other countries,
it might be a little bitdifferent.
Uh, Chile, for example, it's,it's a pretty fast, uh, system.
Argentina is a, is a, is arelatively fast system.
(08:26):
I know Mexico, uh, is moderate.
It could take a couple ofmonths, but, you know, if things
look good, they, they're prettygood in Brazil, uh, which is
another market that I've, uh,worked in, uh, is, is a little
bit more delayed, uh, becausethey're just very careful about
what, uh, is being brought totheir population.
And they wanna make sure that,you know, they, they, they do a
very, uh, detailed, uh, look at,uh, at all the information
(08:49):
that's being brought to them forthe product.
But for the most part, ifeverything looks good, they
approve it to
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mexico and Brazil are kind ofthe, the, the ugly countries in
Latin America for regulatoryeffort.
Everybody's scared of these twocountries because it is time
consuming is labors andexpensive.
And, um, as you said, Columbiais pretty straightforward.
Uh, in, in about 90 days, youcan have your, your high risk
(09:17):
device approved and for lowerrisk devices, uh, class one and
class two is automatic, it'sjust a notification.
Yeah.
Which is great.
And, and, and, and I was justrecently, um, uh, listening to,
um, uh, a presentation from, uh,the director of the medical
device committee in Arvi inColumbia.
(09:39):
And, uh, she was saying that,uh, they did benchmarking, uh,
and they compare colo to therest of the countries in Latin
America.
And Columbia definitely has thefastest approval time except for
Chile.
Right?
Chile is a different animal.
Yeah.
Chile.
Chile, you don't need,regulatory approval is
voluntary.
Uh, which is interesting becauseI create a, a, a kind of a, a
(10:02):
market driven, uh, regulatorysystem.
In other words, if you don'thave fda, you see market
approval, uh, the governmentdoesn't care about it.
The government will let youimport the product.
Uh, they want, um, they, theydon't require you to file any
applications or anything.
You can, as long as you have a,a distributor, an importer, you
(10:24):
should be able to sell theproduct, uh, tomorrow.
Uh, it's just that the localdoctors will not accept anything
that's
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Ex that's exactly what I was about ready to say.
So, uh, so that the regulatorypart is very easy, but, uh,
trying to convince people touse, uh, new products is a
challenge.
And so that's, that's where alot of training and education,
uh, come in very handy.
And sometimes you ha uh, if youconvince, uh, the elder, uh,
(10:52):
professor or the elder physicianin, in the facility, and if that
person has, or he or she has a,you know, significant influence
in, in the hospital orhealthcare system, then other
people will follow and adopt.
But it takes some time to, toget that to happen.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
No, nobody will risk, uh, thereputation.
Any, any q p leader willcarefully guard to use her
reputation and will not, uh,risk, uh, his patients, uh, or
her presences, uh, with, uh,Chinese or some, uh, products
that do not have, uh, FDA or Cmark approvals.
(11:28):
So, yeah.
So Marisa, let's speak aboutyour, uh, past experience.
In what capacity were youworking in Latin America?
I, if I remember correctly, youwere a medical director also.
You were medical affairs?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, I was in medical affairs.
I was, uh, the, uh, globalmedical affairs actually at, uh,
uh, at a diagnostics company.
And so, uh, my, uh, my job wasto, uh, was essentially, I was
in charge of, uh, three diseasestates, uh, and, and, and, you
know, and in the product thatwas, uh, that was being used for
(12:01):
those disease states.
And so, uh, my, uh, for example,sepsis and acute kidney injury
were the two big ones that I,that I was working on.
And so, uh, what I, I had to do,uh, was, uh, train people, you
know, talk to physicians, talkto different hospital systems
about, uh, sepsis.
Uh, interestingly enough, we, uh, in the healthcare, uh, you
(12:24):
know, field, we, everybody knowsabout sepsis, but at the same
time, not very many people knowabout sepsis.
And, and, and that's somethingthat's very, you know, it's an
infectious disease.
It's, it's a mostmulti-systemic, uh, uh, you
know, a problem that, thathappens when, uh, you know, as a
result of an infection, uh,where the, you know, multiple
organs can fail.
Uh, and, uh, and, and it couldbe very deadly.
(12:46):
But, uh, the interesting thingwas that, uh, there are
different ideas about how tomanage the septic patient.
And so, but there really is noconsensus.
And so, uh, my job really was tonot only talk about, uh, the,
the diagnostic tests that, thatwe had, uh, for use in sepsis,
but really educate and trainpeople about the management of
(13:07):
sepsis.
And the same thing was for acutekidney injury.
So, uh, it's just veryinteresting to see different
colleagues when, when you talkto them there, those that you
know, that listen, uh, that, uh,are, are very appreciative of
the, the new updatedinformation.
Because many times in manycountries, uh, some of the
information that they have isvery old.
So when you bring something new,they really do appreciate that.
(13:29):
Uh, you know, in other cases,there are some guys that are
just set in their ways, theydon't wanna change.
And, you know, that's, that'show, and that's okay,,
but for the most part, bring,you know, bringing new
information has been, uh, quitea, a, a very, uh, interesting,
uh, thing to experience becausepeople do appreciate that.
And because they do, uh,genuinely wanna, uh, want to, uh
(13:49):
, improve patient lives.
So, so that was my experiencethere.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Okay.
Okay.
Interesting.
And you're bringing up anotherpoint, um, which is education
information and all that.
And you are in a unique positionbecause you went to medical
school in El Salvador.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
So it's a, it is a centralAmerican country.
Many people talk about now it'skind of in fashion with the
(14:14):
president, right?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I think you, you paused for a minute.
Sorry,.
Yeah, you're back.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
You're back.
Okay.
I'm here.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
So
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Top of the world is in fashion now because of the
crypto currency.
Bitcoin, yeah.
, yeah.
Bitcoin is the first country inthe world to adopt
Bitcoin as a, as a nationalcurrency.
And the president is, uh, he'sunique, to say the least.
.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah.
He's, uh, some people like him,some people don't
Speaker 1 (14:45):
See.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm sure, uh, you talk a lotabout this with your, uh, family
members and your friends fromSalvador.
But the, the, the question Iwanted to ask you, Mauricio, is
how would you compare themedical education that you've
received and, and, and thatdoctors, uh, in general receive
in, in a country like Salvadorwith the education of somebody
(15:06):
who, who went to medical schoolin the United States?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
You know, interestingly enough, and I
mean, it's a very good question.
Uh, uh, you know, just, uh, as a, you know, point of reference
for me, I mean, I, I went tomedical school, you know, over
20 years ago.
And so, uh, the educationalsystem, I'm sure has changed
since, uh, I was there.
Uh, but what I will tell you isthat, uh, at least from my own
experience, uh, in medicalschool, I mean, we used the same
(15:32):
books.
We used a lot of the samereferences.
Uh, you know, our professors, uh, were very good, very
knowledgeable about, uh, theirspecific specialties.
And they, uh, and they taughtvery, in a very anecdotal way.
Right?
Uh, so, so you, you're reallytrained to be a physician in, in
(15:53):
that country, which is, youknow, that that's why you're
there, right?
But, uh, I think what thedifference between, uh, some
Latin American countries, I knowI can't speak for all Latin
American countries, but justfrom my own experience is that,
uh, in the United States, thereis a little bit more of an
academic, uh, focus then inLatin America.
And, and, you know, we're theyhere in the United States, uh,
(16:16):
we encourage medical studentsand residents and fellows to
participate in clinicalresearch, uh, you know, to test
new, innovative, uh, ideas, totest innovative products, and to
participate in, in some of thoseactivities, you know, not only
to, uh, uh, encourage people todo something new, but maybe
discover something better.
(16:38):
Uh, and so, uh, I did not havethat experience, and this was
20, 25 years ago, so I'm surethings may have already changed,
but nonetheless, uh, that'sprobably the biggest difference
between, uh, the, the, the tworegions.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yes.
Yes.
I, I think, uh, things have notchanged that much, to be honest
with you, because I hear thatfrom, uh, a few other people,
uh, including my brother.
My brother went to medicalschool in, in Columbia.
And by the way, there's asignificant difference, um,
medical school in Latin America,it's an undergrad degree, right?
(17:14):
.
So right after high school, youget into medical school and you
spend five, seven years with theinternship, and you also have to
do social service.
That's the same case inSalvador.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
That's the case.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So social service where youspend a year in a rural area
helping people, which is great.
I think that's a greatexperience for a very humbling
experience.
Cause regardless of yoursocioeconomic level, and you
know that Latin America hasvery, uh, marked, very
bold differences.
(17:50):
Uh, you have to go through
Speaker 2 (17:51):
That.
Yeah.
And, and actually, uh, I mean,I've been, uh, uh, you know,
given gifts, you know, from,from patients when I did my
social service here, I've beengiven, uh, uh, food chickens, uh
, fruit cats.
And I even had one lady offerme, uh, to marry her daughter,
.
But, uh, I did not marry her.
But, uh, but it's, it's veryhumbling, you know, that, that
(18:14):
people really do appreciate, uh,uh, what, what you do for them.
Uh, you, uh, you get to see aside of, uh, society that you
normally wouldn't get to see inthe bigger cities.
And so it really was a humblingexperience, uh, and you develop
a, a high sense of compassion,uh, for, you know, impoverished
people.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Definitely.
Yes, yes, yes.
Uh, I heard that a lot from myfather.
He was a, a neurologist and aradiologist, and my brother, who
is a cardiologist.
And, um, you also mentioned thatthe way your professors teach,
uh, a thought in your case, uh,is through anecdotes.
(18:53):
And, and I also heard that frommy father and my brother.
And, and, and the reason forthat is probably because, um,
the way medicine is practiced inthese countries is very
practical.
You have to solve issues.
You have to solve whatever caseyou have in front of you with
little resources.
You don't have the$20,000 pieceof equipment that you have at
(19:16):
your disposal on your desk in,in the United States, uh, as a
doctor.
So, um, in, in Columbia, I, Iheard all these stories about,
uh, you know, hospitals, theydon't even have cotton, uh,
.
They don't even have alcohol.
So you have to come up withcreative solutions.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Well, you know, interestingly enough, and some
of the things that we take forgranted here in the United
States, for example, is, uh, ifyou need a CT scan, they just
take you from the emergency roomto the CT scan room in, uh, El
Salvador, for example, if youneeded a CT scan, they would put
you in an ambulance, take you toa different location, and you
need, you would need to have$2,000 to get a CT scan.
(19:57):
And, and so, uh, you know, sothat, that's another disparity
that we see a lot there, that alot of the technology that we
have in the United States is notas available in other countries.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
All right.
So Mauricio, let's talk aboutwhat you're doing today with, uh
, human Site.
I'm very, very intrigued withyour, uh, company, with your
product, with what you guys aredoing is just fascinating.
I mean, it sounds like sciencefiction.
Let's talk about that, please,
Speaker 2 (20:22):
.
Yeah.
So, you know, human site is a,you know, is a, is a company in,
uh, regenerative medicine.
Uh, and we're actually defininga new category in regenerative
medicine where we're capable ofcreating a, you know,
universally implantable, uh,regenerative, uh, human tissue,
uh, at a commercial scale, uh,for patients with, you know,
life and limb threateningconditions.
(20:43):
Uh, currently we're, uh,testing, uh, this, uh, this
product, the ha or humanacellular vessel, uh, in, uh,
phase three clinical trials.
It's not FDA approved just yet.
Uh, but what we're doing is, uh,we're, uh, we're, uh, studying
it in, uh, uh, AV access orarteri venous access for
hemodialysis in, uh, vasculartrauma, and then also in
(21:05):
peripheral arterial disease, uh,in, in, in some phase two
trials.
And, and, you know, we haveother applications that we're
looking at right now, but, uh,the, you know, the, the two main
ones that we're, uh, working onright now are AV axis and
vascular trauma.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Okay.
Fascinating.
Yeah.
Yeah, go
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Ahead.
Oh, no.
And we're working with the fda,uh, to, uh, you know, to get to
conclude these, uh, studies and,and then bring, uh, bring the,
uh, results to them andhopefully get, uh, FDA approval.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
When do you think that will happen?
The FDA approval?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Well, we don't know just yet.
Uh, you know, because of thepandemic and because of, uh, you
know, several factors, uh, we,you know, there is no, uh,
timetable right now.
Uh, we, we would expect, uh,things, you know, maybe to look,
uh, a little bit more concreteand within the next year or two.
But, uh, you know, when, whendiscussing with the fda, and
especially now because of theCovid Pandemic, uh, we, we do
(21:56):
not know just yet.
So, you know, I can't define aspecific timetable.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Sure, sure.
Do you have any plans for LatinAmerica after you get FDA
approval?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Well, the markets that we're looking at right now
are the us.
Uh, and then also with the, uh,collaboration, uh, with, uh, one
of the, uh, leaders inhemodialysis, uh, foren.
Uh, we're also exploring the,the European markets.
We don't have a timetable yetfor Latin America.
Uh, but that's not to say thatthat won't happen, but right now
we're really more focused on, onthe US and, and, and Europe.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Okay.
And from what you hear from yourfriends or colleagues, um, are
there, is it a, a renew interestwith Latin America, uh, in light
of the U M D R?
Have you heard anything aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Uh, not, I haven't heard about the U ndr, but, uh,
I, what I do know is that therehas been a significant, uh,
interest, uh, from differentcompanies, not just, uh, you
know, the pharma, but alsobiotech and diagnostics to, uh,
invest in, in Latin Americancountries, uh, because, uh, uh,
we have seen a lot of, uh,researchers and excellent
(23:01):
physicians emerge from, uh,Latin America, who, that nobody
knows about.
Uh, and, and a lot of experts,uh, in, in the infectious
disease area, for example, incardiology, uh, in nephrology,
uh, at least for my, uh, uh,experience, have been
phenomenal.
And so now, you know, people arestarting to realize that there's
a lot of talent out there, andit's time to capture that.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yes.
Yeah, you're bringing up anothergood point.
I think, uh, what's happening inLatin America, Mauricio, is that
the region for the past, uh, 20years or so has changed, is, has
matured.
And, uh, the middle class, themiddle class is growing a lot,
and people have access.
And with the internet, withglobalization, people have
(23:47):
access to global education.
They can study, uh, anywherenow, and they can, they can look
at, at other countries as adestination for their, their
university studies.
And a lot of, a lot of LatinAmericans, especially if you're
from the middle, middle, upperclass and you have access to,
to, um, you have family membersin the United States, and you
(24:09):
have the money to travel and toget accepted to university, I
see more and more and morepeople, and I'm 50 years old,
I've seen the transition.
You see more and more peopletraveling to United States or
Europe to study, study.
Just yesterday, I was, um, Iinterview the director of the
(24:32):
biomedical program at the topuniversity in Columbia, which is
equivalent to Harvard inColumbia, and one of the top
universities in, in LatinAmerica, new Los Sandis.
They have a fantastic, uh,biomedical, uh, program.
And he just told me that, uh,one of his students get
accepted, uh, at Stanfordbiodesign.
(24:56):
Wow.
You know, that's, that's quite a, quite a, an accomplishment is
being the only Latin Americanand the only female accepted in
this program.
And I felt so proud.
I'm like, wow, this is a bigdeal for us and for the region,
because as you said, now you seemore Latin Americans in the, in
the biotech, biopharma, MedTechecosystem, and that creates
(25:18):
awareness and, and they, theycan help bring technologies or
research to the region.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah.
Recently, I can't remember hisname, but, uh, there is a, uh, a
physician from El Salvador, uh,who was, uh, uh, who's gonna be
part of the space program innasa.
I can't remember if it's themission to Mars, or, or maybe
it's the moon.
I can't remember, uh, right nowwhat it is, but I mean, it's
Salvador, uh, physician, and,you know, that's, you know,
(25:47):
that's a big thing because, uh,you know, you don't see that
very, uh, often.
Yeah.
So, so I mean, there's a lot oftalent that's emerging, uh, from
Latin America.
Uh, you know, the, uh,interesting thing is that a lot
of, uh, talented people leavetheir countries of origin to
come to the United States totrain and, you know, because of,
(26:07):
uh, you know, the differentcircumstances, you know, people
decide to stay in the, in theUnited States, uh, you know,
because there are moreopportunities for, you know, for
growth or, or, or, or whatnot.
But, uh, you know, but whatwe're seeing now is it's a
little bit, uh, morecompetitive, uh, especially in
some countries like Columbia,where people do come back and
they have a very, you know,nice, uh, you know, uh,
(26:29):
lifestyle and justbecause they, they bring back
what they learned from Europe orCanada or the United States as
an example.
So I, yeah.
And I know many people, uh, fromEl Salvador who go to South
America, and they come back,back and succeed.
So, you know, there's, you know,there's, there's a, there's a
new wave of, uh, a new wave fromthere.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah, yeah.
And actually the system is setup for that, for you to go back
to your country.
There's, there's a visa that isgiven to these physicians, uh,
who come from, from, fromoverseas, uh, including Latin
America, which is the j j onevisa.
Yeah.
So you are required to go backto your country for two years.
(27:12):
It's called the home residencyrequirement, because, uh, the,
the spirit of the visa is that,yes, you're welcome to United
States, you're welcome to ourinstitutions, you're welcome to
get a vacation here, but youhave to go back to your country
for two years at least, and, andapply what you learn, which is,
it's a good spirit.
I mean, I like that.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
It's a good incentive, you know?
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah.
It's a good incentive.
But the thing is, if you wannastay here, it's difficult
because you have to break thathome requirement, uh,
requirement.
Uh, I mean, I'm home requirementvisa requirement, and, uh, it's,
uh, it can be costly.
Uh, I, I've seen a few cases ofwhere you have to go through
attorneys and immigration courtand stuff, because if you get
(27:56):
education, get educated atHarvard, for example, the
medical school, I mean, it'sdifficult to go back.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
It really
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Is.
Yeah.
Unless you have a great, greatincentive to go back to Latin
America.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yeah, I agree.
.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
All right, Mauricio, we're getting close to the end
of the show.
Uh, any final comments?
Uh, any muscles of wisdom?
Uh, in other words, what wouldyou say to the CEO of a medical
device or biotech company, uh,who is just starting to look at
Latin America as a place to doclinical research or
commercialization of medicaltechnologies?
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah, you know, I think that, uh, there is a, uh,
a, a tremendous, uh, opportunityin Latin America to, uh, to do
some clinical research, to bringnew products, uh, maybe sooner
rather than later.
Uh, you know, obviously peoplewanna test it in the United
States and Europe first, but,you know, there's always a good
opportunity, uh, and, uh, apopulation that's also sick and
in Latin America that, you know,where you can also test a lot of
(28:54):
products safely, of course.
Uh, and, you know, but I thinkthat the, the most important
thing is that there is also ahuge opportunity to, uh, educate
and train physicians on theupdated technology where, you
know, they should not have towait, uh, five, 10 years to, to
learn about what we learned herelast year.
Uh, and so I, I think that, youknow, being able to bring, uh,
(29:16):
these products to, uh, and, andtechnology, to Latin America is
really gonna help patient lives.
And it's also gonna help withresearch because that
encourages, uh, research in, uh,you know, for physicians, for
residents, and, you know, maybethey can invent the, you know,
next new technology.
And so we, you know, why notbring it to them too?
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yes.
Yeah.
Well said.
All right, Mauricio, thank youso much for being the show
today.
I really appreciate, um, youaccepting my invitation.
I enjoyed, um, our conversation.
I'm sure listeners also did.
So have a great day,.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Appreciate, thank you very much.
And, and you know, hello toeverybody in Latin America,
.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
All right, Mauricio Chao.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Welcome to the Latin MedTech Leaders podcast, a
conversation with Metech leaderswho have succeeded or plan to
succeed in Latin America.
Please subscribe on yourfavorite podcasting platform.
Apple Podcast, Spotify, GooglePodcast.
Amazon Music is teacher.
Tune in.
I heard radio, Pandora, or theseare welcome to the Latin Metech
(00:22):
Leaders podcast, a conversationswith leaders who have succeeded
or plan to succeed in LatinAmerica.
Today our guest is MauricioBargo, MD mph.
Mauricio is currently thedirector of medical affairs at
homicide.
I hope I'm pronouncing thisright,
(00:43):
And he has worked in differentcapacities within the cro Pharma
diagnostics and biotechindustries in the United States
and globally, including LatinAmerica, Europe, in Asia for, um
, for the past nine, 10 years.
So, Maurices, it's great to haveyou here in the show.
Welcome.
Thank
Speaker 2 (00:59):
You very much.
It's a pleasure to be here withyou.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Excellent, Mauricio.
So, I'm so looking so much, uh,looking forward to this
conversation today.
You are originally from CentralAmerica, and I'm very curious
about your journey.
Tell us about your journey towhere you are today and your
journey to Latin America.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, interestingly enough, my journey started in
the United States.
Uh, I was raised in the UnitedStates, but I had the
opportunity, uh, to go to, uh,El Salvador for medical school,
uh, and which was a, you know, aphenomenal experience for me.
Uh, learning a little bit moreabout my own culture, uh, you
know, where my ancestors camefrom, my family came from.
I was actually born there, wereraised in the United States,
(01:37):
but, uh, the, uh, importantthings that I got to know, uh,
what the healthcare situation isoutside of the United States,
which is something that I'm veryforeign to.
So it was not only a, a cultureshock, should I say, for an
American kid to go to, uh, hiscountry of origin, but to learn
how things work, uh, politicallyand in the healthcare, uh, uh,
(01:57):
industry, uh, outside of theUnited States.
Uh, so after graduation frommedical school, I came back to
the United States and I startedworking, uh, in, in a different
clinical, uh, positions.
But eventually I decided toembark an academic journey, uh,
in, uh, in, in healthcare, uh,principally in, uh, pulmonary,
cardiovascular and spine surgeryresearch, uh, which brought me
(02:20):
to, to this industry.
And that's when I started togrow, uh, within the therapeutic
areas that, you know, that Inow, uh, and have worked with in
the past.
So, it's been a pretty longjourney.
It's been a very interestingjourney.
Uh, and, uh, and, and maybe toanswer your question about how I
got involved, uh, in the LatinAmerica, uh, you know, side of
things was, uh, once I, I gotinto the diagnostic space,
(02:41):
that's really where I had theopportunity to work globally.
And I worked with different, uh,uh, people, wonderful people
from different countries.
Uh, and, and I learned a lotabout, uh, you know, what the
policies are in each country.
Every country's different.
Uh, you know, it's, there's noone cookie cutter, uh, way to,
uh, to do things.
And so you really get a goodperspective about, you know, how
to work in each individualregion.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Excellent, Mauricio.
All right.
So let's talk about trends.
What do you see happening inLatin America from the
political, economical, or socialstandpoint that, that is
relevant to our discussiontoday?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
You know, without maybe getting into too many, uh,
details, but I think politicallythere, I think just the same as
the around the world, there's alot of political unrest.
Uh, you know, there's a lot of,uh, different ideas, different,
uh, ideologies, uh, thatpredominate, uh, with different,
uh, you know, governments anddifferent administrations.
(03:37):
Uh, I don't think it's anydifferent than here in the
United States, but I think whatthe most important, uh, thing in
Latin America is the level of,uh, poverty, uh, and the level
of angst, uh, you know, from,from different people.
Uh, not so much, you know,about, you know, what are they
gonna do, uh, with their newgovernments.
But, you know, economicallyit's, it, it's, it's a very
(03:58):
difficult situation, uh,politically obviously it's a
difficult situation, but I thinksocially as well, uh, there's a
lot of division and, and so thatimpacts, uh, many sectors of, uh
, of society in Latin America.
And, and I have personally seen,uh, that that divide.
And so, uh, you know, it, it'sreally a difficult situation in
(04:19):
some countries.
It's better in other countries,it's not.
Uh, but, uh, there's a lot ofunrest, uh, right now all over
the world.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yes, yes.
Agree.
Well, you're bringing up aninteresting point,
don't know if it is a curse or,or, or, or a blessing for Latin
America, but, um, you see a lotof populist governments in the
region, Argentina, uh, now Peru,uh, of course, Venezuela in, in,
(04:46):
uh, Mexico, et cetera, in, in,in Columbia is about to have an
election.
And there is a populist, um,candidate, very strong.
So what this means is that, uh,you see a lot of government
programs, including healthcareprograms that benefit the whole
population in, you know, one wayor another.
(05:07):
So, as I said, I don't know ifit is a course or a blessing,
but, uh, but the train in LatinAmerica, or the historic, um,
behavior of the region has beenuniversal healthcare system for
everybody.
So I guess that, that, um,facilitates, uh, the, the, the
(05:28):
access, uh, to the system and,and then the, uh, increases the
coverage and, and also makes itattractive for companies to, um,
to sell products, uh, to, tonational healthcare systems.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah.
No, I agree.
And, and actually in somecountries you'll have the
universal healthcare system, butthen there are also private
systems that, that, that alsowork, and then also the social
security, uh, healthcare systemsthat some countries have.
Uh, and so there is a little bitof a, I'd say, benefit, you
know, to having, to being, uh,able to afford into those
programs.
(06:03):
But for the most part, you'reright, it's universal healthcare
, and whether it's good or badfor the population, uh, you know
, I'm sure that they're improve,you know, improvements that can
be made, you know, all around.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
And also something that I'veseen happening in the region
just happen in Columbiarecently, is that, um, recently,
we're probably talking aboutthree, four years ago, uh, it's,
uh, that healthcare is aconstitutional right.
So, um, you have the, the, theright as a Columbian citizen to,
(06:35):
to have access to the healthcaresystem.
And, uh, reimbursement is prettymuch a guarantee for any product
that you wanna, that, that youneed for your medical care.
So, um, that's, that's certainlya trend that is increasing in,
in, in the region.
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
All right.
So Mauricio, let's speak aboutyour, uh, practical experience,
your field experience in thedifferent countries in the
region.
Let's, let's, uh, speak aboutMexico, Columbia, and, and
anywhere else in Latin Americawhere you travel and, and you
were able to, to, uh, work and,and, uh, experience how to do
(07:16):
business in each country.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, interestingly enough, the, uh, countries that
I worked, uh, with the most, uh,were in Columbia, uh, Argentina,
uh, Chile, uh, and with Mexico,I, I did some work indirectly,
worked with a lot of greatpeople, uh, didn't, uh, I didn't
have the opportunity to go, uh,to, uh, Mexico physically, but I
was there virtually quite a lot,
(07:39):
Uh, but, uh, interestinglyenough, uh, in South America,
the markets, uh, have, uh, beenvery, uh, diverse, especially in
Columbia, uh, where you have, uh, different medical systems
that, uh, that are, are, areworking.
Regulatory agencies are verydifferent, uh, in Columbia,
where, uh, if you wanna bring aproduct there, you really do
have to show, uh, the regulatoryagencies, uh, the, the benefits,
(08:05):
uh, in, in the clinical trialoutcomes, uh, for the product.
And they, you know, if, ifeverything looks good, they
really, they, you know, they exthey approve things pretty
quickly.
Uh, and, uh, without so muchdelay, uh, in other countries,
it might be a little bitdifferent.
Uh, Chile, for example, it's,it's a pretty fast, uh, system.
Argentina is a, is a, is arelatively fast system.
(08:26):
I know Mexico, uh, is moderate.
It could take a couple ofmonths, but, you know, if things
look good, they, they're prettygood in Brazil, uh, which is
another market that I've, uh,worked in, uh, is, is a little
bit more delayed, uh, becausethey're just very careful about
what, uh, is being brought totheir population.
And they wanna make sure that,you know, they, they, they do a
very, uh, detailed, uh, look at,uh, at all the information
(08:49):
that's being brought to them forthe product.
But for the most part, ifeverything looks good, they
approve it to
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mexico and Brazil are kind ofthe, the, the ugly countries in
Latin America for regulatoryeffort.
Everybody's scared of these twocountries because it is time
consuming is labors andexpensive.
And, um, as you said, Columbiais pretty straightforward.
Uh, in, in about 90 days, youcan have your, your high risk
(09:17):
device approved and for lowerrisk devices, uh, class one and
class two is automatic, it'sjust a notification.
Yeah.
Which is great.
And, and, and, and I was justrecently, um, uh, listening to,
um, uh, a presentation from, uh,the director of the medical
device committee in Arvi inColumbia.
(09:39):
And, uh, she was saying that,uh, they did benchmarking, uh,
and they compare colo to therest of the countries in Latin
America.
And Columbia definitely has thefastest approval time except for
Chile.
Right?
Chile is a different animal.
Yeah.
Chile.
Chile, you don't need,regulatory approval is
voluntary.
Uh, which is interesting becauseI create a, a, a kind of a, a
(10:02):
market driven, uh, regulatorysystem.
In other words, if you don'thave fda, you see market
approval, uh, the governmentdoesn't care about it.
The government will let youimport the product.
Uh, they want, um, they, theydon't require you to file any
applications or anything.
You can, as long as you have a,a distributor, an importer, you
(10:24):
should be able to sell theproduct, uh, tomorrow.
Uh, it's just that the localdoctors will not accept anything
that's
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Ex that's exactly what I was about ready to say.
So, uh, so that the regulatorypart is very easy, but, uh,
trying to convince people touse, uh, new products is a
challenge.
And so that's, that's where alot of training and education,
uh, come in very handy.
And sometimes you ha uh, if youconvince, uh, the elder, uh,
(10:52):
professor or the elder physicianin, in the facility, and if that
person has, or he or she has a,you know, significant influence
in, in the hospital orhealthcare system, then other
people will follow and adopt.
But it takes some time to, toget that to happen.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
No, nobody will risk, uh, thereputation.
Any, any q p leader willcarefully guard to use her
reputation and will not, uh,risk, uh, his patients, uh, or
her presences, uh, with, uh,Chinese or some, uh, products
that do not have, uh, FDA or Cmark approvals.
(11:28):
So, yeah.
So Marisa, let's speak aboutyour, uh, past experience.
In what capacity were youworking in Latin America?
I, if I remember correctly, youwere a medical director also.
You were medical affairs?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, I was in medical affairs.
I was, uh, the, uh, globalmedical affairs actually at, uh,
uh, at a diagnostics company.
And so, uh, my, uh, my job wasto, uh, was essentially, I was
in charge of, uh, three diseasestates, uh, and, and, and, you
know, and in the product thatwas, uh, that was being used for
(12:01):
those disease states.
And so, uh, my, uh, for example,sepsis and acute kidney injury
were the two big ones that I,that I was working on.
And so, uh, what I, I had to do,uh, was, uh, train people, you
know, talk to physicians, talkto different hospital systems
about, uh, sepsis.
Uh, interestingly enough, we, uh, in the healthcare, uh, you
(12:24):
know, field, we, everybody knowsabout sepsis, but at the same
time, not very many people knowabout sepsis.
And, and, and that's somethingthat's very, you know, it's an
infectious disease.
It's, it's a mostmulti-systemic, uh, uh, you
know, a problem that, thathappens when, uh, you know, as a
result of an infection, uh,where the, you know, multiple
organs can fail.
Uh, and, uh, and, and it couldbe very deadly.
(12:46):
But, uh, the interesting thingwas that, uh, there are
different ideas about how tomanage the septic patient.
And so, but there really is noconsensus.
And so, uh, my job really was tonot only talk about, uh, the,
the diagnostic tests that, thatwe had, uh, for use in sepsis,
but really educate and trainpeople about the management of
(13:07):
sepsis.
And the same thing was for acutekidney injury.
So, uh, it's just veryinteresting to see different
colleagues when, when you talkto them there, those that you
know, that listen, uh, that, uh,are, are very appreciative of
the, the new updatedinformation.
Because many times in manycountries, uh, some of the
information that they have isvery old.
So when you bring something new,they really do appreciate that.
(13:29):
Uh, you know, in other cases,there are some guys that are
just set in their ways, theydon't wanna change.
And, you know, that's, that'show, and that's okay,
but for the most part, bring,you know, bringing new
information has been, uh, quitea, a, a very, uh, interesting,
uh, thing to experience becausepeople do appreciate that.
And because they do, uh,genuinely wanna, uh, want to, uh
(13:49):
, improve patient lives.
So, so that was my experiencethere.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Okay.
Okay.
Interesting.
And you're bringing up anotherpoint, um, which is education
information and all that.
And you are in a unique positionbecause you went to medical
school in El Salvador.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
So it's a, it is a centralAmerican country.
Many people talk about now it'skind of in fashion with the
(14:14):
president, right?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I think you, you paused for a minute.
Sorry,
Yeah, you're back.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
You're back.
Okay.
I'm here.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
So
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Top of the world is in fashion now because of the
crypto currency.
Bitcoin, yeah.
Bitcoin is the first country inthe world to adopt
Bitcoin as a, as a nationalcurrency.
And the president is, uh, he'sunique, to say the least.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah.
He's, uh, some people like him,some people don't
Speaker 1 (14:45):
See.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm sure, uh, you talk a lotabout this with your, uh, family
members and your friends fromSalvador.
But the, the, the question Iwanted to ask you, Mauricio, is
how would you compare themedical education that you've
received and, and, and thatdoctors, uh, in general receive
in, in a country like Salvadorwith the education of somebody
(15:06):
who, who went to medical schoolin the United States?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
You know, interestingly enough, and I
mean, it's a very good question.
Uh, uh, you know, just, uh, as a, you know, point of reference
for me, I mean, I, I went tomedical school, you know, over
20 years ago.
And so, uh, the educationalsystem, I'm sure has changed
since, uh, I was there.
Uh, but what I will tell you isthat, uh, at least from my own
experience, uh, in medicalschool, I mean, we used the same
(15:32):
books.
We used a lot of the samereferences.
Uh, you know, our professors, uh, were very good, very
knowledgeable about, uh, theirspecific specialties.
And they, uh, and they taughtvery, in a very anecdotal way.
Right?
Uh, so, so you, you're reallytrained to be a physician in, in
(15:53):
that country, which is, youknow, that that's why you're
there, right?
But, uh, I think what thedifference between, uh, some
Latin American countries, I knowI can't speak for all Latin
American countries, but justfrom my own experience is that,
uh, in the United States, thereis a little bit more of an
academic, uh, focus then inLatin America.
And, and, you know, we're theyhere in the United States, uh,
(16:16):
we encourage medical studentsand residents and fellows to
participate in clinicalresearch, uh, you know, to test
new, innovative, uh, ideas, totest innovative products, and to
participate in, in some of thoseactivities, you know, not only
to, uh, uh, encourage people todo something new, but maybe
discover something better.
(16:38):
Uh, and so, uh, I did not havethat experience, and this was
20, 25 years ago, so I'm surethings may have already changed,
but nonetheless, uh, that'sprobably the biggest difference
between, uh, the, the, the tworegions.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yes.
Yes.
I, I think, uh, things have notchanged that much, to be honest
with you, because I hear thatfrom, uh, a few other people,
uh, including my brother.
My brother went to medicalschool in, in Columbia.
And by the way, there's asignificant difference, um,
medical school in Latin America,it's an undergrad degree, right?
(17:14):
So right after high school, youget into medical school and you
spend five, seven years with theinternship, and you also have to
do social service.
That's the same case inSalvador.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
That's the case.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So social service where youspend a year in a rural area
helping people, which is great.
I think that's a greatexperience for a very humbling
experience.
Cause regardless of yoursocioeconomic level, and you
know that Latin America hasvery, uh, marked
bold differences.
(17:50):
Uh, you have to go through
Speaker 2 (17:51):
That.
Yeah.
And, and actually, uh, I mean,I've been, uh, uh, you know,
given gifts, you know, from,from patients when I did my
social service here, I've beengiven, uh, uh, food chickens, uh
, fruit cats.
And I even had one lady offerme, uh, to marry her daughter,
But, uh, I did not marry her.
But, uh, but it's, it's veryhumbling, you know, that, that
(18:14):
people really do appreciate, uh,uh, what, what you do for them.
Uh, you, uh, you get to see aside of, uh, society that you
normally wouldn't get to see inthe bigger cities.
And so it really was a humblingexperience, uh, and you develop
a, a high sense of compassion,uh, for, you know, impoverished
people.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Definitely.
Yes, yes, yes.
Uh, I heard that a lot from myfather.
He was a, a neurologist and aradiologist, and my brother, who
is a cardiologist.
And, um, you also mentioned thatthe way your professors teach,
uh, a thought in your case, uh,is through anecdotes.
(18:53):
And, and I also heard that frommy father and my brother.
And, and, and the reason forthat is probably because, um,
the way medicine is practiced inthese countries is very
practical.
You have to solve issues.
You have to solve whatever caseyou have in front of you with
little resources.
You don't have the$20,000 pieceof equipment that you have at
(19:16):
your disposal on your desk in,in the United States, uh, as a
doctor.
So, um, in, in Columbia, I, Iheard all these stories about,
uh, you know, hospitals, theydon't even have cotton, uh,
They don't even have alcohol.
So you have to come up withcreative solutions.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Well, you know, interestingly enough, and some
of the things that we take forgranted here in the United
States, for example, is, uh, ifyou need a CT scan, they just
take you from the emergency roomto the CT scan room in, uh, El
Salvador, for example, if youneeded a CT scan, they would put
you in an ambulance, take you toa different location, and you
need, you would need to have$2,000 to get a CT scan.
(19:57):
And, and so, uh, you know, sothat, that's another disparity
that we see a lot there, that alot of the technology that we
have in the United States is notas available in other countries.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
All right.
So Mauricio, let's talk aboutwhat you're doing today with, uh
, human Site.
I'm very, very intrigued withyour, uh, company, with your
product, with what you guys aredoing is just fascinating.
I mean, it sounds like sciencefiction.
Let's talk about that, please,
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah.
So, you know, human site is a,you know, is a, is a company in,
uh, regenerative medicine.
Uh, and we're actually defininga new category in regenerative
medicine where we're capable ofcreating a, you know,
universally implantable, uh,regenerative, uh, human tissue,
uh, at a commercial scale, uh,for patients with, you know,
life and limb threateningconditions.
(20:43):
Uh, currently we're, uh,testing, uh, this, uh, this
product, the ha or humanacellular vessel, uh, in, uh,
phase three clinical trials.
It's not FDA approved just yet.
Uh, but what we're doing is, uh,we're, uh, we're, uh, studying
it in, uh, uh, AV access orarteri venous access for
hemodialysis in, uh, vasculartrauma, and then also in
(21:05):
peripheral arterial disease, uh,in, in, in some phase two
trials.
And, and, you know, we haveother applications that we're
looking at right now, but, uh,the, you know, the, the two main
ones that we're, uh, working onright now are AV axis and
vascular trauma.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Okay.
Fascinating.
Yeah.
Yeah, go
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Ahead.
Oh, no.
And we're working with the fda,uh, to, uh, you know, to get to
conclude these, uh, studies and,and then bring, uh, bring the,
uh, results to them andhopefully get, uh, FDA approval.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
When do you think that will happen?
The FDA approval?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Well, we don't know just yet.
Uh, you know, because of thepandemic and because of, uh, you
know, several factors, uh, we,you know, there is no, uh,
timetable right now.
Uh, we, we would expect, uh,things, you know, maybe to look,
uh, a little bit more concreteand within the next year or two.
But, uh, you know, when, whendiscussing with the fda, and
especially now because of theCovid Pandemic, uh, we, we do
(21:56):
not know just yet.
So, you know, I can't define aspecific timetable.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Sure, sure.
Do you have any plans for LatinAmerica after you get FDA
approval?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Well, the markets that we're looking at right now
are the us.
Uh, and then also with the, uh,collaboration, uh, with, uh, one
of the, uh, leaders inhemodialysis, uh, foren.
Uh, we're also exploring the,the European markets.
We don't have a timetable yetfor Latin America.
Uh, but that's not to say thatthat won't happen, but right now
we're really more focused on, onthe US and, and, and Europe.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Okay.
And from what you hear from yourfriends or colleagues, um, are
there, is it a, a renew interestwith Latin America, uh, in light
of the U M D R?
Have you heard anything aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Uh, not, I haven't heard about the U ndr, but, uh,
I, what I do know is that therehas been a significant, uh,
interest, uh, from differentcompanies, not just, uh, you
know, the pharma, but alsobiotech and diagnostics to, uh,
invest in, in Latin Americancountries, uh, because, uh, uh,
we have seen a lot of, uh,researchers and excellent
(23:01):
physicians emerge from, uh,Latin America, who, that nobody
knows about.
Uh, and, and a lot of experts,uh, in, in the infectious
disease area, for example, incardiology, uh, in nephrology,
uh, at least for my, uh, uh,experience, have been
phenomenal.
And so now, you know, people arestarting to realize that there's
a lot of talent out there, andit's time to capture that.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yes.
Yeah, you're bringing up anothergood point.
I think, uh, what's happening inLatin America, Mauricio, is that
the region for the past, uh, 20years or so has changed, is, has
matured.
And, uh, the middle class, themiddle class is growing a lot,
and people have access.
And with the internet, withglobalization, people have
(23:47):
access to global education.
They can study, uh, anywherenow, and they can, they can look
at, at other countries as adestination for their, their
university studies.
And a lot of, a lot of LatinAmericans, especially if you're
from the middle, middle, upperclass and you have access to,
to, um, you have family membersin the United States, and you
(24:09):
have the money to travel and toget accepted to university, I
see more and more and morepeople, and I'm 50 years old,
I've seen the transition.
You see more and more peopletraveling to United States or
Europe to study, study.
Just yesterday, I was, um, Iinterview the director of the
(24:32):
biomedical program at the topuniversity in Columbia, which is
equivalent to Harvard inColumbia, and one of the top
universities in, in LatinAmerica, new Los Sandis.
They have a fantastic, uh,biomedical, uh, program.
And he just told me that, uh,one of his students get
accepted, uh, at Stanfordbiodesign.
(24:56):
Wow.
You know, that's, that's quite a, quite a, an accomplishment is
being the only Latin Americanand the only female accepted in
this program.
And I felt so proud.
I'm like, wow, this is a bigdeal for us and for the region,
because as you said, now you seemore Latin Americans in the, in
the biotech, biopharma, MedTechecosystem, and that creates
(25:18):
awareness and, and they, theycan help bring technologies or
research to the region.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah.
Recently, I can't remember hisname, but, uh, there is a, uh, a
physician from El Salvador, uh,who was, uh, uh, who's gonna be
part of the space program innasa.
I can't remember if it's themission to Mars, or, or maybe
it's the moon.
I can't remember, uh, right nowwhat it is, but I mean, it's
Salvador, uh, physician, and,you know, that's, you know,
(25:47):
that's a big thing because, uh,you know, you don't see that
very, uh, often.
Yeah.
So, so I mean, there's a lot oftalent that's emerging, uh, from
Latin America.
Uh, you know, the, uh,interesting thing is that a lot
of, uh, talented people leavetheir countries of origin to
come to the United States totrain and, you know, because of,
(26:07):
uh, you know, the differentcircumstances, you know, people
decide to stay in the, in theUnited States, uh, you know,
because there are moreopportunities for, you know, for
growth or, or, or, or whatnot.
But, uh, you know, but whatwe're seeing now is it's a
little bit, uh, morecompetitive, uh, especially in
some countries like Columbia,where people do come back and
they have a very, you know,nice, uh, you know, uh,
(26:29):
lifestyle
what they learned from Europe orCanada or the United States as
an example.
So I, yeah.
And I know many people, uh, fromEl Salvador who go to South
America, and they come back,back and succeed.
So, you know, there's, you know,there's, there's a, there's a
new wave of, uh, a new wave fromthere.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah, yeah.
And actually the system is setup for that, for you to go back
to your country.
There's, there's a visa that isgiven to these physicians, uh,
who come from, from, fromoverseas, uh, including Latin
America, which is the j j onevisa.
Yeah.
So you are required to go backto your country for two years.
(27:12):
It's called the home residencyrequirement, because, uh, the,
the spirit of the visa is that,yes, you're welcome to United
States, you're welcome to ourinstitutions, you're welcome to
get a vacation here, but youhave to go back to your country
for two years at least, and, andapply what you learn, which is,
it's a good spirit.
I mean, I like that.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
It's a good incentive, you know?
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah.
It's a good incentive.
But the thing is, if you wannastay here, it's difficult
because you have to break thathome requirement, uh,
requirement.
Uh, I mean, I'm home requirementvisa requirement, and, uh, it's,
uh, it can be costly.
Uh, I, I've seen a few cases ofwhere you have to go through
attorneys and immigration courtand stuff, because if you get
(27:56):
education, get educated atHarvard, for example, the
medical school, I mean, it'sdifficult to go back.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
It really
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Is.
Yeah.
Unless you have a great, greatincentive to go back to Latin
America.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
All right, Mauricio, we're getting close to the end
of the show.
Uh, any final comments?
Uh, any muscles of wisdom?
Uh, in other words, what wouldyou say to the CEO of a medical
device or biotech company, uh,who is just starting to look at
Latin America as a place to doclinical research or
commercialization of medicaltechnologies?
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah, you know, I think that, uh, there is a, uh,
a, a tremendous, uh, opportunityin Latin America to, uh, to do
some clinical research, to bringnew products, uh, maybe sooner
rather than later.
Uh, you know, obviously peoplewanna test it in the United
States and Europe first, but,you know, there's always a good
opportunity, uh, and, uh, apopulation that's also sick and
in Latin America that, you know,where you can also test a lot of
(28:54):
products safely, of course.
Uh, and, you know, but I thinkthat the, the most important
thing is that there is also ahuge opportunity to, uh, educate
and train physicians on theupdated technology where, you
know, they should not have towait, uh, five, 10 years to, to
learn about what we learned herelast year.
Uh, and so I, I think that, youknow, being able to bring, uh,
(29:16):
these products to, uh, and, andtechnology, to Latin America is
really gonna help patient lives.
And it's also gonna help withresearch because that
encourages, uh, research in, uh,you know, for physicians, for
residents, and, you know, maybethey can invent the, you know,
next new technology.
And so we, you know, why notbring it to them too?
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yes.
Yeah.
Well said.
All right, Mauricio, thank youso much for being the show
today.
I really appreciate, um, youaccepting my invitation.
I enjoyed, um, our conversation.
I'm sure listeners also did.
So have a great day,
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Appreciate, thank you very much.
And, and you know, hello toeverybody in Latin America,
Speaker 1 (29:57):
All right, Mauricio Chao.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
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