Medsider: Learn from Medtech and Healthtech Founders and CEOs

In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Deanna Harshbarger, CEO of Cala Health.

Cala Health developed the Cala kIQ® System, a prescription wearable therapy for action hand tremor.
Deanna holds a degree in chemical engineering and brings more than 20 years of commercial medtech experience to Cala. Before joining the company, she held senior leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic, and helped develop and commercialize technologies across interventional cardiology, neuromodulation, and diabetes care.
In this conversation, Deanna shares how she empowers leadership teams to execute, building clinical evidence step-by-step, how patient observation shapes product development, and why raising capital is both a sprint and a marathon.

Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things:
First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter.

And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization.

These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass.
If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Deanna Harshbarger, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like!
KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

(03:34) - Deanna’s journey from J&J, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic to Cala Health

(08:16) - How Cala personalized therapy around each patient's unique experience

(11:53) - Operating lessons Deanna carried from strategics to startups

(22:27) - The unboxing interview that changed Cala's product design

(29:16) - How Cala balanced feasibility studies, RCTs, and real-world evidence after its commercial launch

(34:33) - Years of clinical evidence helped Cala win reimbursement for a new therapy

(38:52) - The case for holding back when you're ready to commercialize

(44:30) - Why fundraising is both a sprint and a marathon

In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Michael Mangano, President and CEO of ABK Biomedical. 
ABK’s Eye90 is an investigational Y90 radioembolization device for treating unresectable liver cancer.
Michael brings over 30 years of medical device experience, including 15 years at Boston Scientific in commercial and international leadership roles. He previously served as CEO of ReShape Medical and as President of the Americas for Sirtex Medical, scaling regional revenues from $34 million to over $130 million.
In this interview, Michael discusses the thinking behind ABK's pivot into Y-90 radioembolization, what it takes to execute a 120-patient pivotal trial while retaining ownership over the clinical function, how to build capabilities that competitors can't quickly catch up to, and why the player-coach culture gives startups an execution advantage.
Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things:
First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter.

And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization.

These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass.
If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Michael Mangano, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like!
KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

(03:09) - Michael's journey from Boston Scientific and Sirtex to leading ABK Biomedical

(04:54) - Why Michael pivoted ABK from embolization to radioembolization as soon as he joined as CEO

(09:24) - How ABK reimagined Y-90 around physician control and patient-specific dosing

(21:08) - What a functioning player-coach culture looks like inside a startup

(27:26) - Lessons learned from a complex 120-person pivotal trial and how ABK remained the face of the study while partnering with a CRO

(37:13) - How ABK is building advantages competitors can't easily replicate

(42:50) - Michael's framework for choosing the right investors

In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with we sat down with Murthy Simhambhatla, CEO of SetPoint Medical.
SetPoint is commercializing the first FDA-approved neuroimmune modulation implant for rheumatoid arthritis.
Previously, Murthy was CEO of Evolus, leading the company through its IPO, and held multiple leadership roles at Abbott, including President of Abbott Medical Optics and head of the company's Ibis Biosciences molecular diagnostics business. Earlier in his career, Murthy led development of Abbott's XIENCE drug-eluting stent platform following Abbott's acquisition of Guidant. Murthy holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Engineering and is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
In this interview, Murthy discusses building commercial conviction years before launch, how to sequence platform indications around adjacent markets, and why SetPoint built its reimbursement function in-house rather than outsourcing it.
Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things:
First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter.

And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization.

These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass.
If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Murthy Simhambhatla, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like!
KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

(03:18) - Murthy's journey from Guidant, Abbott, and Evolus to leading SetPoint Medical

(09:53) - How SetPoint stimulates the vagus nerve to reprogram the immune system

(11:32) - Why SetPoint built a reimbursement hub around the entire referral workflow

(21:36) - A guide to building technical and commercial conviction for a novel therapy

(26:58) - The trifecta Murthy wanted in place before commercial launch

(30:56) - Why rheumatoid arthritis became SetPoint's first indication

(36:11) - How commercial adjacency shapes platform expansion

(42:20) - A business case for handholding patients through reimbursement

(48:03) - The two lessons behind every skeptical investor question

In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with David Veino, President and CEO of Neuros Medical.
Neuros is commercializing the FDA-approved Altius Direct Electrical Nerve Stimulation System for chronic post-amputation pain.
Before Neuros, David held senior commercial leadership roles at Cardiovascular Systems (CSI) and Stryker, and helped grow CSI's coronary and peripheral business from approximately $50 million to more than $250 million in annual revenue while leading key amputation-prevention initiatives. He also serves as a private equity advisor with Sectoral Asset Management. 
In this interview, David discusses how commercialization begins by mapping the patient journey upstream, what it takes to generate gold-standard clinical evidence for a novel therapy, how investors assess scalable medtech businesses, and how to build an investor pitch that earns the next meeting.  
Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things:
First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter.

And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization.

These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass.
If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with David Veino, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like!
KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

(03:02) - David's 30-year medtech journey from cardiovascular devices to leading Neuros

(04:38) - How Neuros is treating chronic post-amputation pain with on-demand neuromodulation

(11:08) - Why Neuros completely changed its strategy halfway through the pivotal trial

(15:36) - Why commercialization starts with referral pathways, not end-users

(18:09) - How prosthetists became one of Neuros' most important referral sources

(26:11) - What it takes to generate gold-standard clinical evidence for a first-of-its-kind therapy

(37:41) - Building an investor pitch that earns the next meeting

(41:42) - What gets David excited enough to invest in a medtech company

In this episode of Medsider Radio, we sat down with Vijit Sabnis, co-founder and CEO of Adaptyx Biosciences.
Adaptyx is a Stanford spinout developing wearable technology for continuous molecular monitoring.
Over the past 20 years, Vijit has worked at the intersection of deep technology as an inventor, founder, and investor. Before Adaptyx, he was a Partner at Khosla Ventures and co-founded Solar Junction to commercialize high-efficiency solar cell technology. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford.
In this interview, Vijit discusses how to recognize when a scientific idea is worth building a company around, how to build startup-style learning cycles when spinning technology out of academia, and designing products that are easy for clinicians and consumers to adopt. 
Before we dive into the discussion, I wanted to mention a few things:
First, if you’re into learning from medical device founders and CEOs and want to know when new interviews are live, head over to Medsider.com and sign up for our free newsletter.

And if you’re ready to level up your medtech game, you should check out Medsider Courses — 8-week masterclasses covering topics like fundraising, M&A and exit planning, design and development, clinical and regulatory strategy, and commercialization.

These courses, featuring hard-earned lessons from elite medtech CEOs, can be purchased individually or come free with our All-Access Pass.
If you'd rather read than listen, here's a link to the full interview with Vijit Sabnis, which includes a link to ScottBot — an AI version of host Scott Nelson trained on every Medsider interview and playbook. Feel free to ask ScottBot any questions you'd like!
KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

(03:17) - Vijit's path from Stanford, solar energy, and venture capital to building Adaptyx

(07:25) - How Adaptyx is trying to do for hormones what continuous glucose monitors did for diabetes

(13:50) - The signals Vijit looked for before founding Adaptyx

(25:35) - How Adaptyx turned academic research into startup-speed learning cycles

(32:15) - Why cortisol became the company’s first clinical application

(36:26) - How Adaptyx is designing new molecular data to fit existing clinical workflows

(42:12) - Why new consumer health platforms opened new paths to commercialization

(47:24) - Fundraising in an era of shorter attention spans