Antoine Papiernik opens up on the Medtech Money Podcast

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a fly on the wall as two experts discuss their passion for investing in the medical devices industry? Well, that's what podcasts are for.

Antoine Papiernik, Sofinnova Partners' chairman and managing partner, was the guest on Episode 60 of the Medtech Money Podcast, explaining his take on a wide range of topics, from what he looks for in an entrepreneur to Sofinnova's global view on investing.

Papiernik spent an hour with the podcast's genial host, Giovanni Lauricella , who did not take long to get to the question every inventor is eager to hear an answer to: What skillset do you look for in an entrepreneur? Papiernik, who underscored that working with good people is "the reason we wake up in the morning," explained that in addition to a bit of luck, a lot of competence, and the ability to develop original ideas, an entrepreneur should have grit, perseverance and resilience, since the journey from sketch to marketable device can be long and arduous.

Here are a few of the other exchanges in the podcast, edited for concision:

Q. Is life sciences venture capital investing glamorous, or just grinding work?

A. Speaking of grit and resilience, this is not a job for people who think they're going to make quick money overnight. It's not glamorous, it's a lot of time, and we do our share of begging. Our companies are our children in many ways.

Q. I know you invest in various sectors, but why do you love medtech?

A. Potential LPs ask a similar question, and I tell them, we have found medtech is a great opportunity to align ourselves with entrepreneurs and ultimately generate value. I also love the fact that you get to a product quite quickly, and you understand the product, you can touch it, you can attend surgeries. That directness of the product, that it is immediately doing something in a patient, is very satisfying. And I happen to be not so bad at it. So I continue.

Q. Are we seeing a shift of investors — Israeli, Chinese, Australian, etc. — toward the United States?

A. Yes. It's obvious. Just tell me how you access a market in the best possible way to generate the most value. If you think, "well, I'll do Europe then I'll see how it goes. I'll launch in France, and maybe go to Germany, etc." I say this is not a good use of your equity dollars, so you are not getting my money. We tell people you need to go quite quickly to where you're going to get the biggest bang, and unfortunately, right now, it's not Europe. I wish it were. It used to be, it's not anymore."

Q. Is Sofinnova's goal to be a powerhouse in life science and medtech investing globally —country agnostic?

A. In medtech, I think we have demonstrated that we are able to take companies and create success wherever they are. I'm not sure if we would do an investment in China by ourselves, but we would with great partners there. We certainly feel totally comfortable playing in the U.S. sandbox.

Does it matter where your headquarters is? The question's about talent. And it happens that California has a huge amount of talent. Of course Minneapolis has talent. It has nothing to do with geography. It's about how you use the talent, where they are, to generate the biggest potential.

Eager to hear more? Listen to all of Episode 60 of the Medtech Money Podcast.