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#139 | From Toronto Lab to Global Market

Mickael Dang is co-founder of Synakis, a biotech startup developing groundbreaking technology for treating retinal detachment. Still in startup mode, the company is part of UTEST, the University of Toronto’s Early Stage Technology Program, which helps deep tech entrepreneurs go from lab to market.
Mickael and Wendy connected at the Redefining Early Stage of Investment (RESI) Conference in Boston, where Synakis was among the highest-scoring companies in the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge. (The RESI conference is hosted by Life Science Nation and Wendy recently interviewed Dennis Ford, founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, which
specializes in fundraising for life sciences companies.) 

Mickael’s journey is fascinating. When he arrived in Canada from France six years ago, he could barely string together an English sentence. Today, he is at the intersection of scientific innovation, entrepreneurship, and global market expansion. He started Synakis while earning a PhD and serves as President of the Student and Young Investigator Section (SYIS) of TERMIS (Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society). He is also multilingual; he speaks French, English, and Mandarin. 

“The PhD is the same concept as being an entrepreneur,” he says. “You need to be very self-driven and very independent as well. You have to come up with your own experiment and come up with the next predicted results. I had this entrepreneurial mindset from the get-go and wanted to do a PhD for purpose, to really get the company out there." 

Incubated in the laboratory of renowned biomedical engineering professor Dr. Molly Shoichet, Synakis is developing a revolutionary hydrogel-based technology called SNK125. This innovation promises to transform the recovery process for patients suffering from retinal detachment, a serious condition that requires immediate surgical intervention to prevent permanent vision loss. 

Current treatments for retinal detachment involve using silicon oil or heavy gases to push the detached retina back into place. While these methods work, they have significant drawbacks. Patients experience blurry vision during recovery and must maintain exhausting, face-down posturing for hours, sometimes for months. In addition, the materials used aren't biodegradable, so a second surgery is required for removal. Synakis's hydrogel technology eliminates all these challenges while reducing recovery time from months to days. 

The Global Path to Market 

Equally interesting is the company’s approach to global market entry. Based in Canada, the company has already laid the groundwork for international expansion; in 2019, Mickael proactively filed patents across multiple territories, including Europe, Australia, Canada, and China, to ensure the protection of its intellectual property globally. Rather than attempting to tackle multiple markets simultaneously, Synakis will initially focus on North America before expanding to Europe and China. This staged approach allows them to establish a strong foundation in their home market while building the partnerships and relationships required for international expansion. 

Mickael and his team have been actively seeking partnerships with established industry giants like Alcon or Bausch & Lomb. Clinical trials are expensive, and these companies—according to Mickael, "own the entire market"— have the expertise and distribution networks necessary for successful commercialization.  

Funding the Future 

Synakis is concurrently seeking seed investment and focusing on several critical milestones: Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) setup, FDA regulatory filing, and preparation for clinical trials. While its primary focus is on North American investors for practical reasons like time zone alignment and ease of communication, they're keeping their options open for international investment, particularly in regions like China, which possess significant market opportunity. Mickael has constructed a targeted and strategic approach to investor outreach. At the RESI conference, for example, he prioritized meetings with specialized investors like ExSight Ventures, who focus specifically on ophthalmology. These are the meaningful conversations with investors that will ask the hard questions and offer solutions. 

Looking Ahead 

Synakis is currently preparing for its next phase of growth. Plans include moving out of the university incubator, creating new jobs in Toronto, and expanding their product pipeline beyond retinal detachment treatments to drug delivery solutions for other eye conditions. 

Mickael’s key takeaways from his Synakis journey are relevant for any company planning international expansion: 

  1. Strategic IP Protection: Early patent filing in target markets will protect future opportunities. 
  2. Staged Market Entry: Starting with familiar markets before expanding globally can help manage resources and risk effectively. 
  3. Strategic Partnerships: Recognizing when to partner with established players can accelerate market entry and provide access to crucial resources. 
  4. Targeted Investor Outreach: Focusing on investors who understand your industry can lead to more productive relationships. 
  5. Cultural Adaptability: Language skills and cultural understanding are invaluable assets in building a global business. 

Going from lab to market can be, as Mickael says it in French, a "casse-tête" (a “head-breaker”). Still, the right approach, persistence, and strategic thinking can ultimately turn scientific innovation into global market success. Listen to the full episode to hear more about Synakis's journey from university lab to potential global market player, plus more real-world advice for expanding internationally. 

Read the Episode Transcript.

ATTENTION:  Below is a machine-generated transcription of the podcast. Yes, here at Rapport International we talk a lot about how machine translation lacks quality. Here you see an example of what a machine can do in your own language. This transcription is provided as a gist and to give time indicators to find a topic of interest. 

 

Wendy: Hello friends of The Global Marketing Show. Welcome back to another episode. We're recording another live episode from the RESI conference here in Boston. And we've got another excellent guest. I've just been fascinated by the conversations that I've been able to have. Before we do that, just a reminder that we're brought to you by our sponsor Rapport International which provides foreign language translation in over 200 languages. 

And today's tidbit is about whistling. I'm not gonna try to whistle for you, but did you know that whistling in a European crowd is jeering? While in the US, it's for approval. So all these subtle little things between cultures that can really make a difference. The guest that we're gonna talk to now is Mickael Dang from Synakis. 

He's a co-founder over there and has a very international background. So Mickael, welcome.  

Mickael: Hi. Very happy to be here.  

Wendy: Yes. [00:01:00] Yes. So tell me a little bit about Synakis.  

Mickael: Yeah. So we co founded the Synakis a couple of years ago. It's incubating out of a lab at the University of Toronto leading by Dr. 

Molly Shoichet, who is a world-renowned professor in biomedical engineering.  

Wendy: Okay. And now you're finishing up your PhD right now, is what you said, right?  

Mickael: Yeah, so I'm from France. I was born and raised there and I came to Canada really for this PhD that was leading to be a translational project. 

 And so I really had this entrepreneurial mindset from the get go and wanted to do a PhD for purpose, for really kind of get the company out there. And so really Molly allowed me to have this opportunity to kind of co found this company together with her and several other brilliant people in the lab. 

And we now started this company where we develop this platform technology, [00:02:00] hydrogel, that will tackle most of the main ocular diseases.  

Wendy: Okay, I mean, you must be swamped working on your PhD and launching the business, and living in Canada and away from France.  

Mickael: Yeah, it's been quite hectic. It's been very hectic. At the beginning it was really hard to manage that, figure out what's the kind of balance between how much should I put in my PhD versus how is the business. But the PhD is the same concept as being an entrepreneur, like you still need to be very self driven, very also independent as well. You have to like come up with your own experiment and come up with the next predicted results. So you have to also talk to people a lot. 

So it's very the same kind of mindset. So that was kind of easy to translate these skills to the entrepreneur side of me. I think after several years, I started to really figure out how to balance like, you know, during the day I'm a full time PhD, figure out experiments, et cetera. [00:03:00] And usually by evening I'll just focus on business, learn more about the business side of it. 

What it means to have, what is cashflow? What is profit? What is all these basic stuff, right?  

Wendy: Yes. So tell me about what is your vision? What's the science? What are you trying to solve? What are you doing?  

Mickael: Yeah. So the vision is really to help patients have a better recovery and just better life in terms of when they try to go through ocular disease. 

 One of the core technology we have is what we call it SNK125 which is a hydrogel-based technology that allows you to kind of push the retina to the back of the eye. So a lot of people have a retinal detachment.  

Wendy: Yeah.  

Mickael: So the retina detaches and you have to go through a vitrectomy to push it back, but the product that you have right now to push that retina back to the eye is silicon oil or heavy gases. So, they're not very great for you. First, the refractive index is different, so you have blurry vision [00:04:00] during your recovery. You have to do a phase down posturing for 18 hours a day for weeks to months. And, it's non-biodegradable for some of the products. So, at the end of that recovery, you have to go back to the hospital, get that thing removed out of the eye. It's inside, right? So, you have to get it removed outside. So we try to completely eliminate all of this, so instead of weeks to month recovery, we have a hydrogel that is transparent, so no blurry vision anymore. It's biomimetic, so no need for face down posturing anymore, and at the end it's biodegradable, so no need to go back to the hospital and get it removed, so it's completely safe, and the patient will recover in a matter of days instead of weeks to months in this case. 

Wendy: So is this something you'd still do at your doctor's or you'd still go into the hospital?  

Mickael: Yeah, it would be the same surgery, unfortunately. We can't avoid that. The product will be different. Because that will impact the recovery of the patient in this case.  

Wendy: Okay, and so it's The Global Marketing Show. 

 Already you're global, you grew up in France and you're in Canada and [00:05:00] you're doing this research. So what's going on global at your company and what stage are you in?  

Mickael: Yeah, so right now we are still at the preclinical part of the company. We already filed patent years ago in 2019, filed in several territories because the goal would be to kind of protect it. 

our technology in major territories so that we can really expand it to other places. Like we filed it in in Europe, Australia, Canada, China, and also Australia as well. And the goal would be really to start off with North America and partner with one of the biggest companies such as Alcon or Bausch & Lomb to take us over to kind of the other international continent. 

 Like hopefully Europe and China will come after that, but the first base right now will be North America. We'll try to expand that first, and really sell that there.  

Wendy: Okay. So the plan is to really partner up with an international company to take it into clinical? 

Mickael: Yeah. [00:06:00] The reason really is because of the cost and also the marketing power. We don't have it, we do have the science, we understand the technology. And we understand the need behind it. We have a team of vitreoretinal surgeons, and it's great, but we definitely need that marketing power because companies like Bausch & Lomb or Alcon, they own the entire market. 

So they know what they're doing. And so really having them as a partner at some point will be the best way for us to, to move on and to really expand it globally.  

Wendy: Oh, okay. Okay. And so you'd like to partner with them even for going into clinicals even before you're trying to commercialize. 

Mickael: Absolutely. The plan so far right now, we're looking for seed investment right now to kind of go through the last part of the GMP manufacturing. We need to manufacture in a very clean way of product. We need to then also file the ID to the FDA. We need to go through the regulatory process of the FDA. 

And [00:07:00] that's when we can inject that into the patient. So, until then, that's still a lot of money. So that's why we're right now looking for a seed investment to get to that inflection point.  

Wendy: Oh, okay, so that's what you're doing here at RESI.  

Mickael: Exactly, exactly. 

Wendy: Who are you looking for, for investors? Are you looking international? Are you looking for US since you're planning on launching?  

Mickael: We are really open. We started to look for North American companies as it's easier to communicate on a daily basis, as it would be often with investors. 

Wendy: Time zone, language, culture.  

Mickael: Exactly. But definitely knowing that there's a huge need also in China, for example, we know that there's a lot of retinal detachment going on there. We know that that will be also of interest for us to expand that there.  

Wendy: Now, there's a huge need in China. Is that because the number of people that are there? 

Or that's a more common thing that happens there? Yeah, one of the things. Okay, so it's just pure numbers. [00:08:00] Exactly.  

Mickael: North America has the most, but also they have the best surgeon here and there's a lot of people will even fly over to get their retina repaired. 

But yeah, we're trying to tackle definitely North America, Europe, and China. So we're really open in terms of investors, but the first one needs to be someone close to us to help us on a daily basis. And then after we can expand it.  

Wendy: So you're really thinking about going from Canada into the US because of the proximity.  

Mickael: Yes.  

Wendy: Would you turn down money from China?  

Mickael: No. It's our primary focus for North America.  

Wendy: Okay, so your primary focus where you're going to look, but you're open to any investment out there.  

And how about the meetings that you're having here at RESI? 

 Are you finding people?  

Mickael: Yeah, so we actually met with a VC company, ExSight Ventures earlier. They are based in [00:09:00] LA. They're very focused on ophthalmology products, so that was really a great discussion. We also have meeting plans later on, like not even today, but also virtually tomorrow and also Friday with firms that are located either in Asia or either in Europe. So, it's going to be early mornings or late nights for me to meet them, because we need to look at the time.  

Wendy: They focus on the ophthalmology products too?  

Mickael: Yes. It's easier to also get their interest there because they know what we're talking about in terms of when we talk to a VC firm and they know a lot about ophthalmology, it's easier. 

We're starting with as focused as possible, as close as possible, but then we're also open to any other investment.  

Wendy: Yeah, and that's what Life Science Nation, who is the founder of the RESI conference, they said, sometimes it can be easier to raise funds [00:10:00] internationally for exactly that reason. 

You're talking to investors that are familiar with the diseased state.  

Mickael: Absolutely.  

Wendy: And so how about any language or culture issues that you've run into?  

Mickael: So far, not really. I mean, I speak French, so in Canada, it's pretty easy. I didn't have any problem if it was in Mandarin. I would struggle a little bit more, even though it's my language from my parents. But I'll manage a little bit, but so far we haven't met an investor outside of English and French.  

Wendy: Oh, okay. Okay. So language and culture haven't come into play yet.  

Mickael: No, it was a struggle a couple of years ago for me because I didn't know how to speak English. 

I used to just speak only French and came here six years ago, barely know how to put sentences together. You need to learn, learn, learn, and then now I feel way more comfortable.  

Wendy: Oh my gosh. Yes. Yes. That's amazing. I mean learning English in a [00:11:00] PhD program. Wow!  

Mickael: You have to talk, you have to present. 

So you push to communicate. So you need to really learn fast.  

Wendy: Yeah. Yeah. And your accent is even very good.  

Mickael: Thanks. Thank you.  

Wendy: And so what are your plans for the company? Say you get funding, I mean, is this, you want to finish your PhD and then run this full-time?  

Mickael: Yeah, so I'm going to defend my PhD this November. 

Wendy: Oh, good luck!  

Mickael: Exciting. The goal would be to kind of take that full-time and to even get outside of the lab. Right now we're still incubating in the lab, at Molly's lab. So the goal will be that we really move on full-time, create new jobs for Torontonians, for the Canadian people. 

 And also just expand that a bit more, because we have a pipeline of products. The first product is retinal detachment, I explained that, that's our core technology. But we also have many products coming in that would deliver drugs that will reach to a bigger market. [00:12:00] So we'll be continuing the company vision after that. 

Wendy: Oh, okay. So you're not going down the academic path. You're definitely going down the entrepreneurial path. Yeah.  

Mickael: Yeah. I definitely have a lot of interest in academia, but right now I think I can feel that it's right for me to try that path and see where it goes.  

Wendy: Good for you. Good for you. So we're kind of coming to the end, and I always like to, I know, this has been fascinating. 

Always like to ask, what's your favorite foreign word?  

Mickael: Yeah, actually I like, it's in French, I'm biased. Yeah. I like casse-tête. It means, if I translate it, it's breaking the head. But a casse-tête like when something is very complicated. So we say it's a casse-tête because it's just breaking your head. 

Wendy: That's great. How do you spell that?  

Mickael: Just C A S S E, and then - [00:13:00] T E T E. Break the head.  

Wendy: Break the head. Oh, okay. So that heavy duty thinking that you do. 

Mickael: I love that word because it really describes it. That it's like just so hard to understand this problem, to figure that out.  

Wendy: And you've spent your whole life in casse-tête type situations. 

Mickael: Yeah, my PhD was a casse-tête.  

Wendy: And your business is a casse-tête.  

Mickael: Yeah.  

Wendy: Well, you know, we were talking at the beginning about learning about the business side of business with the cash flow and everything like that. So, one is I'd like to tell you about Entrepreneur's Organization. They have a chapter up in Toronto that you can join. 

So that is a fantastic place to get into with other entrepreneurs. It's global. Nice. And then the other thing that I'd like to do is give you a gift of The Language of Global Marketing so it'll teach you the business growth side of marketing.  

Mickael: Oh, nice. Thank you so much.  

Wendy: It's a book I wrote because a lot of similar questions were coming up, so I hope, hope it boils it down.  

Mickael: Amazing.  

Wendy: Yeah. [00:14:00] So thank you so much for being on the podcast.  

Mickael: Thank you for inviting me.  

Wendy: Your story is fascinating and I will say a little good wishes for you when you're defending your PhD, which  

Mickael: I'm sure  

Wendy: you'll have no problem with. 

Thank you.  

Mickael: Fingers crossed.  

Wendy: Listeners, I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Global Marketing Show, and I hope that you were inspired to greatness, because talking with Michael right here, I certainly have felt a little unaccomplished and thinking I could do a lot more, but all in a good way. So if you've enjoyed this episode or if you know of somebody that has suffered from retinal detachment or you know investors that would be interested in this area, please feel free to share this episode with them and give us five and come back and see us again. Thanks so much for tuning in. 

 

 

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