Phil, Toby, and David, ScubaTx: “Our greatest success is ‘putting Bill in a box’”
Meet Phil Andrews (CEO), Toby Clark (CFO), and David Campbell (COO), the ScubaTx team.
1. Describe your startup in two sentences?
ScubaTx is a transplant organ preservation device designed to be simple, low-cost and transportable and yet able to preserve organs for 24 hours or more. The base unit is common across all organs with just a change to the consumable element and the device highly secure and report to surgeons on the state of the organ prior to transplant.
2. What gave you the inspiration?
Bill, our scientific founder, and a biomechanical engineer, has worked on a technique called persufflation since his PhD. This is a well-known and proven technique known to work across virtually every organ, but it has always been perceived as a difficult technology to deploy across healthcare systems due to the hands-on requirement of an expert. Together with Stuart and Leo, ScubaTx managed to put “Bill in a box” and create a device met all the criteria that the transplant community have told us is important for solving the global problem of insufficient organs available for transplantation.
3. How did you meet?
TC – I live on the same street as Stuart, our CTO and when Stuart explained the project Phil and I were excited to work with the scientific founders.
PA – Toby and I have been great friends since the early 90’s, but have been working together since 2018 on a group of businesses that leverage software technologies in pursuit of better and more affordable patient care.
DC – I was introduced to the team through a mutual friend who was an early angel investor in the company.
4. What has been your greatest success to date? And your greatest challenge?
Our greatest success is “putting Bill in a box” – in other words being the first company to harness the power of persufflation through automation driven by engineering and software skills combining. This has lead to widespread global interest in our device and we have now signed agreements for collaboration for four prestigious transplant research centres in the US and Europe. Senior leaders in the transplant industry internationally agree on the potential impact of our device to alleviate global shortages in available organs for transplant.
5. What kind of impact is your business having and how do you measure it?
ScubaTx will enable the true power of transplantation as a solution to many illnesses and organ failure. It will do this by delivering mobile, 24 hour, and affordable preservation of organs not only making sure existing organs get used more effectively but increasing the supply of organs using more marginal donors. Our device has a unique ability to preserve the Pancreas beyond the ice box which is currently effective for only two to three hours. This will allow the treatment of type 1 diabetes though the injections of Islets retrieved from pancreas and injected into the liver. We can self-certify our device under current regulations and engage in a widespread trial within two years.
6. How has Covid affected your business?
Covid has slowed down the deployment of our devices to our collaborators at prestigious transplant research centres. Initially through supply constraints of available components but exacerbated by travel restrictions/difficulties and access to medical institutions. Covid also worsened the funding environment for early stage MedTech companies as investors were forced to support existing investments who’d progress would be slower under Covid restrictions.
7. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
TC – I wanted to be a forensic scientist when I was young.
DC – In my last year at primary school my teacher told my parents that I would do something in science. I wanted to be a doctor. I loved watching medical TV and always thought that would be where I would end up.
PA – I used to join my father as he visited his customers for his medical products – he taught me to “sell the sizzle, not the sausage” and this advice stood me in good stead when I followed my dream of starting my own companies.
8. If you weren’t doing this, what would be your plan B?
Through different routes we have all become passionate advocates of working with new technologies to advance healthcare, and ideally earn a good living as a result. We would be involved in other medical technologies if we hadn’t had the chance to get involved with ScubaTx.
9.What would you save in a fire?
DC – after making sure my family are out it would have to be my watch collection.
TC – I would save my 1984 Mercedes SL. My family would be out before me.
PA – My daughter’s sculptures and drawings.
10. Who is your role model/ greatest influence? And why?
DC – I don’t really have a single person that I can call a true role model. I like to think that I am a little bit of lots of people I have met over a very varied career.
TC – I take inspiration from a variety of former colleagues and clients, but rarely does anyone provide all the influence you need. I admire Elon Musk, not because of his views but because of his resilience when regularly so close to failure.
PA – my father has provided me with inspiration but admiration of what you can achieve by hard work and being nice to people.
11. What is your happy track?
DC - “Africa” Toto
TC – “Virtual Insanity”, Jamiroquai
PA – “Here and Now”, Del Amitri
12. What’s your motto?
Our motto is “Lets breathe life into the organ transplant market”. We want to give patients a hope of a healthy organ.
13. What are you most looking forward to in 2023?
Seeing ScubaTx funded and making large strides towards its technology changing lives.