The results of the report prepared by Biotech Management Consulting – an advisory company specializing in appraising and analysing the companies in the biotechnology sector – entitled Upcoming boom. The global development perspectives of the telemedicine market – indicate that telemedicine is now one of the most dynamically developing segments of the healthcare sector. The value of the global telemedicine market is estimated at as much as USD 27 billion, and the growth dynamics – at 15% a year. It follows from the report that the Polish companies operating in that field have a lot of potential to fight in the global market of telemedicine services. Among others, this is confirmed by the example of Medicalgorithmics company, as their product achieved commercial success in numerous countries. It is followed by other companies on the verge of international expansion, including those listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange: Braster, InfoScan, or NestMedic.

All projections indicate that, in the upcoming years, the annual growth index for the telemedicine sector will be maintained at the level of at least 15 percent. The highest rate – even over 20 percent – will be observed in the US market, covering ca. half of the global value of the telemedicine market. The second market - both in terms of size and growth dynamics – is the European market.

"Telemedicine is now one of the most interesting subjects related to healthcare. The most optimistic projections indicate that until 2025, the value of the global telemedicine market will have multiplied several times, even up to the level of almost USD 80 bn. It is a great opportunity both for companies operating in that field, and for investors." – says Andrzej Białkowski-Miler, President of the Management Board of BM Consulting. - "The telemedicine sector also develops better and better in Poland. Polish companies mainly compete through their innovativeness. A good example is Medicalgorithmics which offers its cardiology solutions in four continents already. Braster – a producer of an innovative device for breast self-examination and InfoScan – dealing with remote diagnosis of breathing disturbances during sleep – are on the verge of foreign expansion. Both companies submitted the applications for marketing their devices in the USA and are planning to debut in the first European markets in the foreseeable future." – he adds.

Trends: products and services in the telemedicine market

The report published by BM Consulting describes the most popular models of the services provided and the solutions applied in telemedicine. The market analysis indicates a number of trends that are going to affect the functioning of that sector.

As for medicine, the market is concentrating currently on cardiology, radiology and GP projects. Everything indicates that in the upcoming future the situation is going to change, because the research and development projects conducted all over the world regarding new telemedicine products cover almost all areas of medicine (such as oncology, psychiatry, paediatrics and dermatology) as well as uniquely diverse technological approaches.

Trends listed in the report include, among others, overlapping of the areas of the so-called mHealth, i.e. use of mobile devices for the purposes related to healthcare and telemedicine in its original form, expansion of activities to the medical areas other than cardiology, or expansion of the base of telemedicine services.

"Taking into account the parameter of market maturity - in particular on the leading US market, the most advanced services include: telediagnostics, telemonitoring, medical teleconsultations and all kinds of services making use of mobile devices (mHealth). Solutions that combine those two approaches (classic telemedicine functionalities and capacities of mobile devices) are most interesting." – says Andrzej Białkowski-Miler.

One of the most advanced and avant-garde telemedicine devices in the world is BRASTER, developed from scratch in Poland. The BRASTER Company is the only one to possess the technology of producing liquid crystal matrices used in imaging breast pathologies - in particular breast cancer - and has developed the algorithms, unique on the global scale, that detect pathological lesions in breasts with precision comparable to ultrasound and mammography examinations. The effectiveness of the method was confirmed in clinical trials.

"Our Telemedicine System is a classic example of the combination of an original, advanced technology and the capacity of mobile devices – the Braster device connects to a smartphone or tablet application, through which it sends thermographic images of breasts to our Telemedicine Centre. There, we use intelligent algorithms to determine the risk of appearance of breast cancer for the given person on the basis of analysis results of several thousands of cases collected in our database. If our System considers the risk to be too high, it will recommend that a patient visits a physician and undergoes a thorough examination." – says Marcin Halicki, President of the Management Board of BRASTER S.A. – The unique property of our System is that the examinations are performed regularly, preferably on a monthly basis, as well as the fact that each subsequent examination is compared with the previous ones. As a result, we are able to detect a neoplasm at a very early stage of development, which considerably increases the chances for effective therapy." – he adds.

The Braster device has been available on the Polish market since October 2016. In 2017, the Company is going to debut on its first European markets. Until the end of 2018, BRASTER is planning to appear in about a dozen new markets, among others in the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, China or the United Arab Emirates.

Investment attractiveness

Information and analyses available regarding the market of telemedicine indicate that investments in the companies from that sector may constitute an attractive investment objective. This results from facts related, among others, to the dynamics of the projected sector growth, the demand for healthcare services, small market saturation, as well as from the historical data presented in the report prepared by BM Consulting on transactions in the private and capital markets involving telemedicine companies.

"The companies in the telemedicine sector have the potential to provide the rates of return that is above average. They are usually highly scalable businesses. Their potential results mainly from the fact that telemedicine can solve patients’ actual problems, and may successfully reduce the costs of medical services." – Andrzej Białkowski-Miler explains. - "What should be remembered is the natural risks associated with the investments in the sectors of innovative technologies. Apart from the market or product issues, there also appear the aspects related to market regulations or a development of awareness and acceptance among patients and medical personnel." – he emphasizes.

The BM Consulting report was developed in collaboration with BRASTER S.A. that covered some of the costs associated with obtaining the data for publication. Analyses and remarks included in this report are the analyses and remarks of BM Consulting.

ABOUT BIOTECH MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

BM Consulting, or Biotech Management Consulting, has many years of experience in innovation management, technology transfers, development of commercialization strategies, as well as in transaction advisory services and technology appraisal. The key achievements of the company include, among others, establishing 4 spin-off companies, as well as obtaining many millions of co-funding for research projects and scientific-industrial cooperation. The company specializes in the sector of biotechnology, particularly in biomedicine, biopharmacy and medical devices.

More information: www.biotechmanagement.pl

ABOUT BRASTER S.A.

BRASTER S.A. – is the only company in the world holding the verified technology for producing liquid crystal matrices, on the basis of which it developed the device called Braster – an innovative medical thermographic tester used for early detection of breast pathologies, in particular breast cancer. The device is addressed directly to women and is to be used in home conditions. In the fourth quarter of 2016, BRASTER marketed the device in Poland, and in 2017 and 2018 it is planning to enter about a dozen international markets. The business model assumes that, in the long run, about 70 percent of the Company revenues will be generated from the sales of high-margin telemedicine services offered in packages with the device.

The effectiveness of the Braster device was confirmed in the ThermaCRAC and ThermaALG clinical trials conducted in 2013 and 2016. The results indicated that Braster is an effective diagnostics-supporting tool, complementary to mammography and ultrasound, which significantly increases the possibility to detect cancer at a very early stage of development. In 2012, BRASTER S.A. debuted on the NewConnect and has been listed in the Warsaw Stock Exchange Main Market since 2015.

More information: www.braster.eu

Contact details for the media:

Piotr Książek

+48 501 988 693

p.ksiazek@innervalue.pl