Kazan “Eidos” started with driving simulators, but the breakthrough was achieved with medical equipment. The company increased revenue to several times, earning in 2015 about 900 million rubles, on the simulators of patients and complexes for training operations. This year, “The star of “Skolkovo” cans double its sales of robots.
Founders of “Eidos” Lenar Valeev, Alexander Litvinov, Ramil Zainullin and Vladimir Andryashin earned their first million - or rather, the first 2 million rubles - on a contract, which in 2009 was concluded between the students of the Physics Department of the Kazan Federal University and Production Association “Zarnitsa”, a local manufacturer of educational equipment. Having work out a training simulator for driving schools, friends invested in the company “Eidos”, established in 2010.
In the next two years the company has earned 55 million rubles, putting five driving simulators to plant KamAZ and winning five tenders of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation to equip its training centers by a computer program to simulate the rescuers.
But in 2012, during a trip to Moscow, young entrepreneurs visited the Medical University named after M. I. Pirogov (Russian National Research Medical University), where they were showed a class with imported simulators for training doctors. “We were impressed and inspired, we realized that we are capable of making this technology”, - said 30-year-old Lenar Valeev. In Russia at that time there was no production of such equipment.
In 2012, partners invested 20 million rubles of own funds in running of direction “Eidos-Medicine”: the money went towards prototyping, development of laboratory and staff salaries. In the same year, “Eidos” became the resident of “Skolkovo”, received tax breaks and expert help, and began to participate in tenders for the supply of medical simulators. But it was without success. The first prototypes of virtual simulators for surgeons were not very successful, admits Lenar Valeev: “Perhaps due to the fact that the product was not brought to the end”.
The government of Tatarstan helped with sales: since inception in 2010, “Eidos” is a resident of Technopark “Idea”, established by the local authorities. The government of the republic decided that all medical simulation centers in the region need to be equipped with Russian-made. “And if you say “Russian”, then who else could it be?” — gladded Valeev, who in conversation with RBC did not get tired to thank the local authorities for compassion.
Regional support
In 2013, the government of Tatarstan and “Eidos” created an engineering center of medical simulators “Medical Science Center”. The company, being the initiator of the project, received a symbolic share of 0.1%. The Republican Ministry of Economy immediately concluded with “Eidos” a contract for the supply of medical simulators to the new center at 177 million rubles, according to “SPARK-Interfax”.
According to Valeev, the equipment was installed also in the Educational Center of high medical technologies in Kazan, where doctors undergo postgraduate training, and at the Kazan Federal University. In 2014, “Eidos-Medicine” bought 39% stake of the Center for 83.3 million rubles at an auction of the Ministry of Land and Property Relations of Tatarstan. At the same time, the entrepreneurs had received a new order from the Ministry of Economy line for 131 million rubles.
In just two years “Eidos” put almost 50 surgical virtual simulators and robotic patients under the contracts with the Ministry of Economy of RT, and the money, received for it, was the lion’s share of the proceeds of “Eidos-Medicine”. According to “SPARK-Interfax”, in 2013 and 2014, revenues of this company amounted to 220 million and 197 million rubles, respectively.
Most of the net profit - 146 million in 2013 and 121 million in 2014 - the company has invested in the development, said Valeev. He is the largest shareholder of “Eidos-Medicine”, although from April 2016 its share - 46 per cent - is pledged to the Timer Bank, “daughter” of Tatfondbank, issuing credit to Lenar Valeev. “This is my personal initiative, as the natural person to obtain credit, not associated with the activities of the company. In the near future, we are closing the loan and the guarantee will disappear”, - explained he. According to the database of “SPARK-Interfax”, the pledge is valid till 2021.
“Eidos-Medicine” has realized the largest domestic supply outside of Tatarstan: in 2015 the Crimean Federal University has purchased 64 simulators for 302 million rubles for a new academic medical center. Now Kazan entrepreneurs are equipping simulation center for MSU named after M. V. Lomonosov. Valeev does not say a volume of deliveries and an amount of the contract.
Almost like a real
Now “Eidos” has its own production premises with area of 3 thousand square meters, since 2012 the company has based in Technopark “Idea”. Medical simulators of “Eidos are basically the robotic patients, on which doctors learn to provide first aid and to do anesthesia, and virtual simulators for practicing surgery.
The first one is robotic mannequins, “a copy of a real person” that looks like lying on the couch young man: he can breathe, sweat and bleed, there is the mobility of the arms, legs and neck, even the skin is similar to human, and the pupils react to light and “damped” if the robot “dies”. The set includes a computer and a screen that displays information about the status of the patient’s prototype. The second type of simulators can look like a robotic patient completed with all equipment which are generally used in surgical procedures (the whole brigade of doctors train on such one), or its separate “units” (for practicing specific interventions).
Body of the robotic patient has holes for laparoscopic instruments. When a surgeon proceeds to imaginary operation, he sees what is happening inside the patient in a “virtual environment” on the screen behind the dummy. The simulator simulates the tactile sensations of the doctor during surgery. Simulators cost is amounted by millions of rubles: the robotic patient costs in the average price of 5 million rubles, surgical simulators come to customers in the 8-15 million rubles.
“Eidos” has a workforce of 150 software developers, designers, engineers, chemists and biotechnologists, another 50 people are engaged in administrative affairs and production of simulators. Valeev explains this process on the example of the robotic patient: “Eidos” produces more than 100 plastic parts, 20 are made of silicone, 50 electronic circuit boards and 40 elements of the metal frame. Additionally, the company purchases from third-party manufacturers, mainly in Europe, batteries, monitors, computers, some sensors and parts of electrical schemes. As a rule, these are inexpensive components; the cost of the final product for it is no more than 5%, said Valeev.
The first and only one
In 2016, “Eidos” will increase the supply of medical equipment from 250 to 300-400 high-tech simulators, said Valeev. The biggest demand is for robotic patients, accounting for approximately 30% of total revenue. Another 30% is virtual simulators of endovascular abdominal surgery. The remaining 40% is simulators for other medical specialties: neurosurgery, gynecology and gastroscopic.
To date Russia has about 100 simulation centers, and it is equipped with imported equipment on 90%, told RBC Executive Director of the Russian society of simulation education in medicine Alexander Kolysh. Until recently, no one produces complex surgical simulators, as against simple like moulages and phantoms, in the country. “Eidos” is the only one, said the Deputy head of academic clinic Mentor Medicus in the First MSMU named after I. M. Sechenov Denis Gribkov.
Although the volume of domestic market of high-tech simulators is small, it is still not saturated. According to Gribkov, even Mentor Medicus, one of the largest simulation centers in the country, has only 20-25 of these simulators, other training centers have low needs: if to summarize it, you get about 1 thousand simulators, and it is installed in Russian training centers, according to Gribkov, until no more than 200 devices.
Kolysh estimated the volume of the Russian market of simulation equipment in 2015 about 1.8 billion rubles. At the same time “Eidos-Medicine” earned in Russia about 400 million rubles in 2015, and approximately 500 million rubles received from sales abroad. In 2016, the company hopes to double revenue, said Valeev.
Medical direction brings the bulk of the revenue for group of companies “Eidos” (the company is not legally declares itself as a holding company). For comparison: “Eidos-Innovation” that produces simulators for KamAZ in 2014 earned 814 thousand rubles, in 2015 - 19 million rubles. Revenue of “Eidos-Robotics” (industrial robots) in 2014 amounted to 169 million rubles, in 2015 - 1.5 million rubles.
In the domestic market “Eidos”, in fact, has one customer — the state. The company supplies simulators for hospitals and medical institutions, for example, its simulators are in the Second Medical Institute and Moscow City Clinical Hospital No. 31. “There is no private segment in Russia, and this is the fundamental difference from the world market”, — said Valeev.
The global market of medical simulation equipment in 2015 was estimated at $860 million, and it grows annually on 10-15%: these figures are provided by American manufacturer CAE with reference to the assessment of Meticulous Research and Markets and Markets. The founders of “Eidos” initially, when they run the medical direction, planned the orientation for export. “It was a little ambitious goal. We did not want to not concentrate on import substitution, and we wanted to enter the world market”, - said Valeev. According to him, now “Eidos” competes with five major foreign manufacturers.
Research company Meticulous Research called market leaders as the Norwegian company Laerdal Medical, Canadian company CAE Healthcare and the American company 3D Systems. Among the other major producers in the list of analysts is not “Eidos”.
“Eidos-Medicine” became the exporter almost immediately: for the first time a foreign company bought its equipment in 2013, simultaneously with the first delivery of the Kazan simulators in Russia. It was an Irish manufacturer of medical equipment Covidien (in 2015 it was absorbed by Medtronic). Although it managed to sell only one simulator for $500 thousand (about 16 million rubles.), it has allowed entrepreneurs to enter the global market. Now more than half of export earnings are brought by customers from EU countries and another 40% came form Asia (mainly China and Japan).
North America occupies less than 10%, but to gain a foothold in the United States, the founders of “Eidos” consider the main purpose: it is the largest market, which accounts for about half of sales of medical simulators, explained Valeev. His words are confirmed by the details of Meticulous Research, forecast of which that the most significant share will remain for the United States at least until 2020, when the global market volume will reach $1.6 billion, and almost $1 billion of it will be of North America. While sales in the United States occupy a small share in the proceeds of “Eidos”, it is $200 thousand in 2015 (about 12.2 million rubles).
Activity of “Eidos-Medicine” was interested by the state abroad: in October 2015, when the company opened a simulation center for $1.5 million in the Japanese Medical University Juntendo, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov arrived for the presentation of the center. “I think we surprised Arkady Dvorkovich. He initially did not believe that the equipment at the Juntendo was installed by Russian production”, - said Valeev.
Now Kazan entrepreneurs are creating in Japan another five similar sites for other universities - this “small order” Valeev estimates at $5 million, he hopes to earn it in the first quarter of 2017. Selecting residents, “Skolkovo” expects commercialization of the company on the international market, said the Director for work with key partners of the biomedical technologies cluster Evgeny Tkachenko. “If they win in the export market, it definitely will become the leaders on the Russian”. The results of the work of “Eidos” in the “SKOLKOVO” are satisfied: “I think this is one of the stars of the Russian economy”, - said Tkachenko.
From robots to DNA diagnostics
Valeev travels in Japan frequently - on average it is every month and a half. Here, “Eidos” not only sells its equipment, but also is engaged in joint development. Now, for example, together with the Scientific Research Institute Riken the Kazan company designs a new gadget for DNA diagnostics: a device with the size of a smartphone, with which, according to the project developers, it will be possible to check a person for any types of viruses at home. The development of the device is occupied by the company “Eidos-Dnaform”. Tatarstan Fund of direct investments “Professional” invested in the project. The one of its shareholders is Tatfondbank, which, according to Valeev, received 50% plus one share of the start-up. The remaining share belongs to the partners of the entrepreneur, but “Eidos-Medicine” has the ability to repurchase shares of the company. He did not name the exact amount of investments, but noted that it does not exceed $35 million.
In December 2015, the company received a grant from the “Skolkovo”: 70 million rubles for the creation of a new simulator (for comparison: in 2015, the Fund issued 1.5 billion rubles of grants to 37 projects, an average of one participant had to 40.5 million rubles). The upper limit of grants of the “Skolkovo” is 300 million rubles, said Tkachenko. “If Eidos wanted more, I think they could get more”. The simulator, the creation of which is co-financed by the “Skolkovo”, is developed by “Eidos” together with the Japanese companies - among them manufacturing medical equipment Mitsubishi and Panasonic - and it has already invested its own 150 million rubles, and, according to Valeev, several Japanese institutions, including Juntendo have expressed interest in it.
The new simulator will be different from the existing by “complex physic and mathematical system”: it reproduces the anatomy of a “patient” on images of computer and magnetic resonance tomography that allows the surgeon to rehearse the operation on the specified properties. The businessman has high hopes for this technology: “When we changed from driving simulators to medical simulators, we got a huge jump in revenue”.
Now we understand that we are on the same stage where gradually move on to new business, from medical simulators to systems of rehearsal operations and DNA diagnosis, and subsequently it is planned robotic surgeries and exoskeletons”, - said Valeev, but acknowledges that “this journey is long and thorny”.
“Eidos” simulators’ costs are:
8.5 million rubles - endosurgery simulator
14.4 million rubles - hybrid endosurgery simulator
5.6 million rubles – reanimation robotic patient
http://www.rbc.ru
