Dan Lemaitre has one of those jobs that’d be hard to explain to third graders on career day, but he’s working to put Utah on the map in the medical device industry.
His Park City company White Pine Medical is seeking to become the consolidator of small medical device makers. There’s a good chance that could lead to manufacturers moving to Utah, maybe even Park City. Along with good jobs, that could bring a critical mass of professionals who would make this area attractive to other firms.
Right now a small handful of regions are known as hubs in the medical device industry including California, Boston and Minneapolis. If all goes according to plan, Salt Lake City could join that list.
Lemaitre has no problem dreaming big. One year ago he sold a medical device company for $700 million that he helped build as president and CEO.
Now with venture capital backing, he plans to do it again by finding under-managed, underappreciated or underfunded medical device companies and bringing them together under his White Pine Medical umbrella. combining forces and applying his expertise, he wants to turn several smaller endeavors into one big successful company.
He isn’t starting out small. Investment firm Essex Woodlands Health Ventures has already pledged $50 million.
The company said in a press release it was a safe bet because of Lemaitre’s background. Prior to taking the helm of the company he sold, he was a senior vice president for the company he sold to Medtronic, a leader in the medical device industry. In that role he helped shape Medtronic’s strategic planning and corporate development while overseeing 50 acquisitions.
Before joining Medtronic, he worked for nearly 30 years as a medical device analyst for a Wall Street firm. He not only knows how to spot potential, he has experience developing it.
But for right now White Pine Medical is just him. He said his acquisitions will really shape and define the company. He’s currently exploring options.
“We have daunting degrees of freedom really no boundaries,” he said.
But Lemaitre doesn’t think attracting companies to Utah will be a tough sell. After working in California, he prefers Utah’s business environment and knows others will as well.
“It’s night and day,” he said. “It’s so refreshing.”
Lemaitre has worked closely with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and says there’s a lot of potential to raise Utah’s profile within the medical device industry.
Nor does he think bringing independent companies together into his will be difficult. The current financial markets make it extremely difficult for a medical device company to “go public.” That’s every entrepreneur’s dream, but analysts want to see performance in the marketplace that isn’t realistic or fair for a new or small company, he explained.
For example, if someone invents a great new heart valve and starts a company, they won’t have the marketing and sales power to convince enough surgeons to use it. They’re competing against companies offering multiple product lines. But if White Pine Medical is offering several product lines, it can get the device into the hands of the people who will benefit from it, he said.
“There’s an enormous backlog of companies who need financing and can’t get it,” Lemaitre explained.
A company needs accountants, engineers, patent attorneys, skilled manufacturers and more to succeed. Combining resources makes more sense.
“This initiative is to do something dramatic,” Lemaitre said.
White Pine Medical