By Offering Innovative Solutions We Are Expanding Access To Health
Koç Medical is one of the leading companies in Turkey in the field of health technologies. In this exclusive interview with Hakan Ozkahraman, the company’s R&D Electronic Technologies Leader, we discussed the founding story of Koc Medical, its achievements during the pandemic and its future goals. Ozkahraman shared with us the company’s commitment to innovation and technology, their impact in the healthcare sector, the difficulties they have experienced and how they have overcome these difficulties. We will review in detail how Koc Medical has made a difference in the field of health technologies both in Turkey and in the global market, as well as the critical role that the electronic technologies played in this process.
Can you tell us about your founding story?
The story of Koc Medical started in June 2021 with the manufacturing of 5000 ventilators in cooperation with the Ministry of Health to offer a solution to ventilator shortage experienced during the peak periods of the pandemic and continued with the establishment of Koc Medical B.V in the Netherlands and Koc Yasa Cok Yasa Medikal A.S. in Turkey by the end of 2021. I was transferred to Koc Medical together with my friends who were working in a respiratory devices project at that time.
What are Koc Medical's goals in the field of health technologies?
Koc Medical BV, the Netherlands based company of the Koc Group operating in the field of health technologies, was founded as a health technologies company in order to provide innovative solutions to health needs, to expand people’s access to healthcare services and become a leading regional health technologies provider. We continue to operate in two different product groups as “disposable medical consumables” and “medical devices”. At Koc Medical, we focus on the design and manufacture of medical devices and consumables in “conventional products” group. There are 2 individual companies affiliated to Koc Medical in Turkey. One of them is Koc Medical Cok Yasa Medikal A.S. founded in 2022, and the other is Bicakcilar Global Tibbi Urunler Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., which has been operating in medical devices sector for more than 60 years and whose 100% shares were acquired by Koc Medical in July 2023. Having two separate companies not only diversify the product range in health technologies field but also contribute to expand the export markets and further strengthen the global growth. This will also support our country’s export/import coverage ratio in medical devices sector significantly.
We have a sales and service network serving all regions of Turkey.
Can you tell us about the ventilator projects and other medical devices that you have developed as Koc Medical?
Currently, our High Flow Oxgen Teraphy device is being used at hospitals with the brand name “Corensys Stelia”. We will also launch our Corensys Oxymax model soon, which is a higher level of this device. Our Oxymax model, which we have developed based on the experience we gained from our Stelia model, will be an HFOT device that can successfully compete with or even surpass the best devices in the global market. We have a sales and service network serving all regions of Turkey. We meet the needs of the hospitals round the clock. We respond to all the meeting and training requests from these hospitals. The hospital professionals, on the other hand, welcome us very warmly since we are a Turkish company, and share their experience with us in a very friendly way. Therefore, I can say that we have great relations with the hospitals, even after the sales.
What are the areas that you prioritize in your R&D studies?
Thanks to the respirators we developed during the pandemic, we have a certain amount of knowledge about respiratory issues. Accordingly, we continue to work on respiratory devices. After the acquisition of Bicakcilar, we are now developing new platform projects where the innovative technologies are integrated into the operating table and lamp products manufactured at Bicakcilar plants. Our goal here is to be able to offer the most advanced and high-quality products in the surgical tables and lamps to the hospitals. In addition, we have a sensor and device development project where we are cooperating with ODTU MEMS center to analyze the KYD waves generated after brain traumas. Developments in electronic and software technologies play a very active role in the health sector, as they do in every aspect of our lives. One of the areas where artificial intelligence has started to be used most effectively is health applications. Also, the technologies such as robot technologies, image processing technologies, remote access, MEMS, etc. are also being effectively used in the health sector.
Peki sağlık teknolojilerinde yenilikçi çözümler üretme konusunda karşılaştığınız en büyük zorluklar nelerdir?
Eğer bir sağlık ürünü ya da cihazı yapıyorsanız, uymanız gereken birçok yasal süreç (MDR, ISO-13485, ürüne özel standartlar, MDCG kılavuzları), etik onaylar, hasta bilgilerinin korunması ve ayrıca yürütmeniz gereken hayvan deneyleri, klinik testler vb. süreçler var. Burada harcamanız gereken bir efor, zaman ve maliyet bulunuyor. Güçlü finansal yapımız ve tecrübeli bir Ar-Ge ekibimiz ile süreci yönetiyoruz.
Güçlü finansal yapımız ve tecrübeli bir Arge ekibimiz ile süreci yönetiyoruz.
So, what are the biggest challenges you face in terms of creating innovative solutions in health technologies?
Pandemi öncesinde, çevik proje yönetimi konusunda eğitimler alıyorduk. Ancak pandeminin gelmesi ile üstlendiğimiz yoğun bakım solunum cihazı projesinde, bir anda kendimizi Çevik proje yönetiminin gerçek pratiğinin içinde bulduk. Her sabah ekip ile o gün yapılacak işleri planlıyorduk. Gün içinde hem ekip ile hem diğer proje paydaşlarımız (Aselsan, Baykar ve Biosys) ile birlikte uzaktan toplantılar yapıyorduk. Akşamları ise her ekibin lideri günlük raporları hazırlayıp, bir üst yöneticisine iletiyordu. Projede sürekli beklenmedik durumlar oluyordu. Mesela Amerikan hükümetinin, projede kullandığımız oransal valflerin, üreticisi ile anlaşmamıza rağmen, ülke dışına çıkmasını yasaklaması gibi. Aniden farklı bir üreticiye dönülüyor, tüm hesaplamalar yeniden yapılıyor ve elektronik kartlar yeniden çiziliyor. Bizim için hedef 5000 adet cihazı gününde, tüm fonksiyonları ile çalışır, kaliteli bir biçimde teslim etmekti. Çevik yaklaşım ile, bu hedefe ulaşmak için, bir yol kapandığında durmadık, farklı yollar bularak hedefe ulaşmaya çalıştık. Kısaca söylemek gerekirse, öğrendiğimiz en önemli kazanımlardan biri, çevik proje yönetimi oldu.
Özdisan’la olan iş birliğiniz hakkında ne söylemek istersiniz?
Özdisan, elektronik sektöründe çok başarılı girişimleri olan, istikrarlı bir ivme ile büyüyen, ülkemiz için değerli bir firma. Özellikle pandemi döneminde solunum cihazını geliştirirken, kendileri en önemli ve kritik tedarikçilerimizden biri oldu. O günlerde, ellerindeki komponent çeşitliliği ile bizim birçok problemimize çözüm oldular. Şimdi de stratejik diyebileceğimiz bir iş birliği içerisindeyiz. Kendileri bize sadece komponent temini sağlamıyor; elektronik kartlarımızın hazırlanmasında da, kardeş firmaları Assan’dan destek alıyoruz. Ayrıca ihtiyaç duyduğumuzda bize tasarım konusunda da destek veriyorlar. Şirketimiz büyüdükçe, aramızdaki iş birliği de artarak devam edecektir.
