IMed supports innovation: Marc Buckingham’s innovative spinal needle design – 

Marc Buckingham is an entrepreneur and innovator in the MedTech sector, with over 20 years of experience when it comes to the Medical Technologies industry in all aspects of product development, market entry, strategy and sales. He is currently focusing on producing and taking to market a new innovative spinal needle design to reduce spinal anaesthesia failures.

“I’ve known Leeanne Baker, IMed Consultancy’s Managing Director and Senior QA/RA Consultant, for over 20 years now I believe” explains Marc, “Over the years we lost touch, as it happens, however around 2015-2016, when I was researching the manufacturing of a particular device and needed regulatory support, I reached out to IMed and was immediately impressed by their positive attitude. in the past I’ve found MedTech regulatory experts are quite focused on what one cannot do, while IMed has always been keen to help, interested and willing to discuss possible paths and solutions. They made themselves available to me and my team, offering support and guidance whenever we needed it. Their attitude really felt like a breath of fresh air, so I immediately knew IMed was the right consultancy to support me in the future as well.” continues Marc.

During 2020, Marc noticed a design flaw in the spinal needle currently used for spinal anaesthesia and reached out to IMed again, as he was looking into the steps and documents needed to produce a spinal needle with his innovative design. “IMed’s team was immediately really responsive and helped me figure out the cost and possible timeline of this endeavour.” After an initial back and forth discussing details, IMed’s technical director, Timothy Bubb, and Business Development director Al Mills started working with Marc on building the case to apply for a £100.000 grant to finance the development of a Proof of Concept for the new spinal needle design, assisting BMTL with technical and regulatory assistance.

After winning the grant from SBRI Healthcare and developing a POC for the needle, Marc decided to apply for another grant, that would help financing getting ethical and MHRA approval for the new design. Once again, he turned to IMed for support and guidance in this delicate process. “Tim worked closely with my research team, especially to make sure everything was ready and in place for a future regulatory submission process. He also helped us consider the type of research we would need to bring this project to the next phase and how to actively take steps in this direction.” explains Marc.

“I’m extremely grateful for IMed’s support in this journey. They have been instrumental in obtaining the grants needed to start and develop my new innovative spinal needle design. Leeanne, Tim and Al have been a great source of confidence for me, and as an entrepreneur in the MedTech space I can’t stress enough how important this is. I can’t wait to see what the future brings us!” concludes Marc.

“Working closely with Marc and his team over the past years has truly been a pleasure and an honour” declares Timothy Bubb, Technical Director at IMed Consultancy. “We’re always really proud to be able to be part of such revolutionary projects, that strive to bring innovation in the MedTech sector, one design improvement at a time.”