INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: HemCon
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John W. Morgan
President and Chief Executive Officer
HemCon
John W. Morgan is president and chief executive officer and has been with HemCon since May 2004. Morgan has more than 21 years of general management experience with four multi-national health care manufacturing and distribution organizations. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Morgan graduated from The University of Arizona with a B.S. in public administration and economics. He serves on the board of the Oregon Innovation Council, which is dedicated to increasing Oregon’s competitiveness in a global economy and promoting commercialization of universitybased research and is a member of the governing board of the Oregon Bioscience Association.
Q: Could you start by telling me about your company?
A: HemCon Medical Technologies, Inc. was founded on one simple premise, saving lives. The HemCon Bandage is now standard issue for America’s soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and military reports show the bandage credited with saving over 100 lives to date.
HemCon’s role has expanded from being a provider of military hemorrhage control products to being a full medical technology company. HemCon is applying its platform technology of advanced chitosan materials to medical solutions where there is potential to significantly advance the standard of care. These areas include: surgical applications, oral surgery, dentistry, emergency medicine, wound care and consumer products.
Q: What are your products?
A: We currently supply the HemCon Bandage, ChitoFlex and a dental dressing to the military. The products work by becoming extremely sticky when in contact with blood. By sticking to the wound, the bandage seals it and stops the bleeding. The bandage is available in 2 x 2 inches, 2 x 4 inches and 4 x 4 inches.
We have also recently introduced ChitoFlex. ChitoFlex works just like the bandage but comes in a 3 x 28 inch roll. It is designed to be stuffed into penetrating wounds where the source of bleeding is not readily apparent. This product was developed at the request of special operations forces and has already saved American lives.
Our most recent product is the HemCon Dental Dressing. This is a small, only 10 mm x 12 mm, dressing that is used for tooth extractions, treating maxillofacial trauma and for gingival grafts.
Q: What makes your product stand out? Why is it different or the best in the market?
A: The HemCon Bandage is the gold standard for hemostatic products. It has been in use since the first days of OEF and last year, the Army surgeon general mandated that every soldier in OIF/OEF carry at least one and that medics carry at least five. There is no better testament to the Army’s confidence in our product and the life-saving qualities of the bandage than that.
The bandage is completely safe and is a proven lifesaver. The HemCon Bandage is documented to have helped save over 100 lives and there have been no adverse events associated with the bandage.
The surgeons who first receive patients from the battlefield are impressed at how good wounds look that have been treated with HemCon. The bandage’s antibacterial nature makes for a very clean wound. The bandage does not generate heat and no additional debridement is required from using the bandage.
For all these reasons, Tactical Casualty Combat Care recommends HemCon be used as the first hemostatic product when dealing with severe bleeding.
Q: What is your position in the market sector?
A: HemCon’s technology is being adapted to a wide variety of products to suit specific needs. We talked about how the HemCon Bandage and ChitoFlex are designed to address different types of injuries. That said, HemCon’s technology also has a future for wound care, burn care, treatment of drug resistant bacteria, tooth extractions and maxillofacial trauma. Perhaps most interesting is the development of HemCon products designed for damage control and traditional surgery.
Q: Are you a fairly new player in the military or established?
A: HemCon has been a part the Special Operations Medic’s aid bag since operations began in Afghanistan. Since then the HemCon bandage has become a required piece of kit for every soldier serving in OIF/ OEF. The military has a high degree confidence in HemCon products as well as HemCon’s ability to rapidly respond to changing needs.
For example, this year we tripled our manufacturing capacities to meet increasing demand. This year we also launched ChitoFlex, less than a year after the product was proposed to us. This sort of responsiveness on our part has led the military to view HemCon as a partner for innovative medical technology.
Q: What are some examples of success in the military and goals for this year?
A: The only measure of successes for a medical company is how we positively impact our soldiers and their families. I had the privilege to visit Walter Reed Hospital this year and met several soldiers who were treated with our bandage. I was struck by the positive attitude each of these soldier displayed. I was never more proud to be both an American and part of HemCon than I was at that moment.
Q: How are you positioned for the future within the military?
A: HemCon is committed to being not just a hemostatic provider, but a provider of medical technology. Our future lies in providing a range of medical solutions from point of injury to recovery and rehabilitation. ♦