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Business Innovation Competition

February 10, 2025
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM

The purpose of the ORS Business Innovation Competition (BIC) program is to provide the resources and opportunity for both early-stage companies, as well as clinicians, researchers, students of all levels with a great idea in the field of musculoskeletal research to participate in a program to validate the market potential of their technology and develop a commercialization plan through expert mentorship and feedback to assist in translating their ideas from bench to market. This session will provide an opportunity for interdisciplinary feedback and collaboration between industry, academics, and clinicians.

Top 3 Finalists

Based in Rostock, Germany, the team operates under the preliminary working title BoneTech. Comprising five dedicated members with interdisciplinary backgrounds in mechanical and biomedical engineering, we are working on the development of innovative 3D-printed synthetic bones to advance orthopedics worldwide. Our team brings expertise in areas such as 3D printing, materials science, software development, and structural mechanics.

Dr. Faisal Mirza is a Knee & Shoulder Surgeon, Entrepreneur and Co-Founder COO of Kinisi Inc, a deep tech healthcare technology company whose goal is to transform human health by improving and maintaining joint stability. In his part-time, Dr. Mirza manages sports injuries at Zuckerberg SF General Hospital as UCSF Clinical Associate Professor and work-related injuries at Concentra. He was raised in Canada where he completed his education at University of Western Ontario and McMaster University. Following his training, he joined Stanford University as Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics at the VA Palo Alto, after which a Device Outcomes Grant led him to the FDA as Principal Investigator and Medical Officer. From the FDA, Dr. Mirza was recruited into biotechnology by Amgen as Global Bone Health Development Medical Director based on his passion for bone and joint health. Dr. Mirza is published in peer-reviewed journals and has lectured internationally on innovation and technology in shoulder, sports medicine, device outcomes, bone and joint health, additive manufacturing, and regulatory pathways. He has a passion for art, having given art workshops to disabled veterans and been exhibited nationally. Faisal spends his free time with his two amazing kids telling Dad jokes while hiking, cycling, swimming, playing tennis and chess.

Gian Nutal Schädli, PhD, is an Established Researcher at ETH Zurich and the CEO and co-founder of CompagOs AG, a deep-tech startup dedicated to transforming bone health through diagnostics. With a background in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Bone Tissue Engineering from ETH Zurich, Gian has developed innovative methods for studying engineered bone tissue and bioprinted organoids. He uses dynamic compression bioreactor devices, which simulate physiological loading in bone and employs advanced imaging techniques to analyze their microstructure. His work underpins CompagOs’ flagship product, Bon3OID™, a highly mineralized bone model designed to enable the early detection of bone metastases in advanced cancer patients.

An entrepreneurial leader, Gian has been awarded an iPostdoc Fellowship by Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT), a strategic focus domain of ETH Zurich.  Together with the CompagOs team, he won funding from Venture Kick, a three-stage startup competition. His leadership style fosters innovation and collaboration, bridging cutting-edge research with real-world clinical applications. Gian’s vision is to enhance patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs through scalable technologies that drive innovation in diagnostics and drug development.

1st Place Live Competition Winner

Kinisi, Inc
Dr. Rosie Sendher, MD, FRCSC – Co-Founder, CEO
Dr. Faisal Mirza, MD, FRCSC – Co-Founder, COO
Manu Chatterjee, MSEE – Co-Founder, CTO

1st Place Poster Pitch Winner

Osteofill
Chin-Chean Wong

The ORS BIC program consists of three phases:

  • Phase I involves development of a team and submission of an executive summary As part of your business competition pitch, please assess your market readiness as either early or developed (use this template). The ORS Innovation Committee spanning industry, academia, and clinical will review the initial submissions. The top three teams will be selected to compete in the final pitch event at the ORS 2025 Annual Meeting. The remaining teams will have the opportunity to compete in a poster pitch event (semi-finals) during the ORS 2025 Annual Meeting.
  • Phase II involves the top 3 finalist teams writing a 10-page full written business plan and connecting the teams with expert mentors. Each team will be connected with two mentors who have extensive experience taking new product to market. During the second phase, a webinar series will be held for all teams, both finalists and semi-finalists. The webinar series will include expert speakers covering the various aspects of commercialization – including topics such as intellectual property, regulatory, reimbursement, scaling-up, competitive analysis etc. The webinars will be available for all ORS members. The participating teams are required to attend the webinars as part of the BIC program.
  • Phase III will be the actual pitch events held during the ORS 2025 Annual Meeting. The BIC will include two sessions (podium and poster session). The top 3 finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their companies during an oral presentation session (10 min presentation and 10 min Q&A/Feedback). The session will include a panel of expert judges who will score their oral presentations based on an established ORS BIC scoring system.

The top 10 semi-finalists will compete during a poster session. Expert judges will score their 1-min elevator pitch and poster content based on ORS BIC scoring system.

Following the competition, the ORS Innovation Committee will host a networking event to provide an opportunity for participants and ORS members to network with experienced academics, clinical partners, and leading industry judges and supporters. During the ORS Closing Session, the top finalists will be announced and awarded.

The Call for Applications Closed on October 7, 2024.

Important Dates for the ORS 2025 Business Innovation Competition:

October 7, 2024Call for Executive Summary Deadline
November 25, 2024Teams are notified of selection
January 10, 2025Deadline - Top 3 teams will submit a 10-page in-depth business plan
January 2025Expert panel of judge’s review business plan
February 10, 2025Live Business Innovation Competition

Have a Great Idea? What’s Next? Learn the Basics of Taking an Idea to a Commercial Product and Resources at the ORS by watching the recorded session: 

Objectives:

  • Provide an overview of the Innovation Committee and Business Innovation Competition
  • Learn the nuts and bolts for starting a company
  • Provide an overview of the start-up roadmap
  • Learn how to effectively communicate your technology at various stages

Organizers: 

ORS Innovation Committee

Roland Herzog, PhD
Committee member, ORS Innovation Committee
Head of Technology Transfer
AO Foundation 

Farshid Guilak, PhD
Committee member, ORS Innovation Committee
Washington University at Saint Louis   

Suzanne Tabbaa, PhD
Chair, ORS Innovation Committee
SymplexBio Consulting
University of California, San Francisco

Speaker:
Starting a Company and Selling Your Story—Keys to Success on the Way to Market
Nicholas Pachuda, DPM
Chief Operating Officer
Peptilogics