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CANADIAN HEALTH AND WELLNESS STOCK |
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2010 |
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Biotonix Is Using Their Postural Technology And Soon Orthotics To Address The Health And Wellness Market, With Their BioPrint™ For The Health Market , Their FitPrint™ For The Fitness Market And Their New GolfPrint™ For Evaluating The Posture Of Golfers – For The Sports Market, All High Potential Markets Individually |
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Biotonix Inc. offers innovative health
solutions for posture correction and fitness using a web-based imaging
software technology. Biotonix is currently developing novel orthotics for
the back and foot, also geared specifically toward improving posture.
Louise St-Onge cumulates nearly 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in Canada and the U.S. as an executive, and as an entrepreneur. She developed a solid expertise in strategic planning and execution.
Prior to joining Biotonix, she founded TSO Communication, a marketing and communications company, and held the position of President for five years. As part of TSO Communication mandates, she acted as a marketing consultant for the U.S., Europe and Canadian markets for Orthosoft, a developer of highly sophisticated navigation systems and instruments designed for orthopaedic surgeries.
Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFOinterviews.com, Published - July 16, 2010
Ms. St-Onge: When I joined Biotonix I was already doing some work with the Company as a consultant, mainly in marketing and development of new markets. I had my own business, a communications and marketing company. My personal background outside of the other business that I just talked about is I worked for fifteen years in the pharma industry namely for Eli Lilly of Canada, then Abbott Laboratories and then for Axcan Pharma. I evolved within that industry where I started my career in sales and moved on to training for the Canadian market portfolio of Abbott Laboratories and then on to marketing for the Gastrointestinal portfolio. I was also responsible for the new product introduction in the US.I therefore saw the Biotonix opportunity as something that really did improve postural health and overall health. When I saw the portfolio of Biotonix applications and the potential of the market for those applications I said, “Yes I am joining the company, I am going to make it move forward and we are going to be building something great and strong”.
CEOCFO: Would you tell us about Biotonix and its products? Ms. St-Onge: Our President, Dr. Sylvain Guimond D.O., Ph.D. is the founder Biotonix. He not only developed the technology, but he is a strong, strong, specialist in biomechanics and sports psychology. He is very well renowned in those fields. The first application of our technology is dedicated to postural analysis. It is a web-based application for which you place reflective markers on the body and take several pictures of the body. Then you enter the picture into the computer, which extracts specific data from them, and the system analyzes the biomechanical deviations of the body. It then tells you which muscles need to be either stretched or strengthened, and providing a personalized corrective exercises program. It prescribes you or suggests to you an exercise program for each of the muscles that are involved in each of the deviations that the system has detected. Then there is a reevaluation ten weeks later. That is for our BioPrint™ solution, which is our main application that focuses on vertebral biomechanics. The BioPrint™ application is dedicated more to health professionals, so it is a more in-depth analysis. In the health market, often times you will go to a chiropractor or a physical therapist because you have back problems or back pain, and that is a huge market. In the U.S. for instance, 11% of the population experience each year back pain that is strong enough to prevent people from doing their daily activities in the normal way. It is the second most important reason why people consult with their physician. In terms of cost for the insurance system, it is estimated at several billions of dollars.
Our FitPrint™ application is a three-marker application and this one is geared towards the fitness market. It comprises two different modules: one for posture evaluation and one for physiological age evaluation. It is a huge market for Biotonix as the tendency within that industry is that fitness centers are becoming wellness centers as people are more and more sensitized to the importance of being active to remain healthy.
CEOCFO: How deep is the analysis? Ms. St-Onge: We have in our database over 350,000 evaluations, so when the system does its analysis it is based on in-depth biomechanical data. What it does is it brings precision. It is a system that does analysis based on a huge database, and also whether your deviations are in x,y or z, so the analysis is very probative.
CEOCFO: Where are you in the process of rolling out your products? Ms. St-Onge: Our BioPrint™ addresses the health market, so it is complimentary health market. We also have some orthopedists that do use it in a rehabilitation setting, namely Dr. Marc Philippon, who is at the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic. The FitPrint™ application has two sides to it; the first side is the posture assessment that I told you about, but it also evaluates your physiological age. It is based on analyzing your VO2Max, lung capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body fat and weight. This has been built according to the Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness and Lifestyle Appraisal Guidelines (CSEP), so it is very solid. What it does is say for instance you are 25 years old, and you do not exercise, so you decide to start exercising, get in better shape, and stop smoking. If go to a fitness center and ask to have your physiological age evaluated, you may find out that instead of being 25 years old, because you have never exercised or anything, maybe you are 37 years old. That is also a little test that is computerized and analyzed by the system that will give you your exact physiological age at the time you take the test. Then your personal trainer may suggest to you a program of exercises and we re-evaluate you maybe in six to ten weeks later; usually we recommend about ten weeks. After exercising and taking care of yourself, you should see your physiological age improve. That is a high potential market for us. One of our Quebec-based clients has over 75 fitness clubs that generate over 3,000 evaluations a month; it is very popular amongst their clientele. The fitness market is also a huge market, and one of the opportune pieces of this market is that currently many of the fitness centers are switching to wellness centers. They want to be the machine that is creating improvement in health and prevention at the same time. In addition, one of the challenges is that through their membership they cannot gain extra market shares or grow their business a lot once they reach a certain level, so one way they grow their business is through offering personal training and that is exactly where we fit. We are an extra solution for them to gain extra money and extra market shares into the fitness market, so we are a very good solution for them. We also can customize our solutions in order to meet each fitness network philosophy and specific needs.
CEOCFO: Do you have any new applications? Ms. St-Onge: We have a new application that we just launched June 16, which is the GolfPrint™ for the golf market, which is another high potential market. The GolfPrint™ is also based on the same model as our FitPrint™. A lot of people currently in golf are analyzing their swing, but this core movement is based on posture. Any muscle asymmetry will affect your balance and in turn, your swing. Say you have one shoulder that is below the other; you are already unbalanced, so when you put yourself in the position just prior to your swing, then for sure this will have an impact on how you swing. What we are doing is addressing the postural problems to help lower the handicap at its very basis, so in the static mode. Very few people are in that game right now and based on our 350,000 evaluations biomechanical database we have developed this with golf experts, and University of Montreal’s kinesiology department. We have discussed it in the Canadian market, as-well-as with people in the U.S. that are very influential, a lot of people tell us that it is a very good opportunity. It is definitely something that is going to answer the needs of that clientele. There are lot of golfers that are playing every year. It is a very popular sport, which also leads me to mention that in 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the golf sport will be a sport that will be recognized as an Olympic sport. In the Olympics one of the challenges that they have with golf is that there are very few measuring tools to measure improvement, and Biotonix hits exactly there. We also have here in Quebec where we are based, evaluated over 30 potential young professional athletes and the results have been tremendous.
CEOCFO: What is the revenue model? Ms. St-Onge: Our revenue model is very simple and for our clients it is a no-risk model, because we are transactional, web-based. Essentially, we sell our training program, so we train the people who train the users for our clients and then everything is based on transactions. If they do not use us they don’t have to pay us, but it is based on the more they do, the more they pay. So every time they do a FitPrint™, then we are paid. Therefore, with both parties, it has been something that has been successful, and it is a model that clients like a lot. If they want to increase their basis of personal training they don’t have to hire a lot of people, and they don’t have to invest a lot in order to use our application. In addition, we have simplified the model as much as possible to make it easy for them to use.
CEOCFO: What is the financial picture like for Biotonix today? Ms. St-Onge: Currently the company is still pretty young, and in the past few years prior to becoming public, the company has had to work a lot on its restructuring and everything. Currently our revenues for 2009 are close to $700 thousand, but essentially, it is mainly in 2010 that we have started pushing for the fitness market and we are going to be launching in the golf market very shortly. We also completed a concomitant $2.5M financing with the transaction, which brought the Company public.
CEOCFO: So you are moving along! Ms. St-Onge: Yes, and we also have orthotics products in development as well, to complement our software solutions and build on our know-how in biomechanics
CEOCFO: Does the current trend towards personalized medicine and non traditional medicine factor into Biotonix? Ms. St-Onge: Definitely! Although it is not completely established yet, in a very short while in the health market, basically everywhere in the world, doctors will also be surrounded by complimentary medicine. This is because it has been proven that it is not just like traditional medicine. There is prevention, there is chiropractic, physical therapy, kinesiology, osteopathy, massotherapy; a lot of complementary medicines that can fit around the actual physician model. More and more what we will see is a lot of non-traditional health entering the market, and also a lot of regroupment, working not only in larger clinics, but more specialties working together as a team. That is exactly where we will fit.
CEOCFO: Why should potential investors pay attention to Biotonix?
Ms. St-Onge:
They should pay attention to us for a few reasons. First, our application is
a solid model that has been tested and proven. Ten years ago when we
launched, not everyone had the internet, but today everyone has the
internet, everyone does transactions over the internet and everyone trusts
their transactions over the internet, which was not the case a few years
ago. So the timing is right for us for our transactional model. In addition,
there are two things which I haven’t told you about that are extremely
important and that is one of the great reasons why people should keep
watching us, is in development we have a postural correction table. What I
was telling you earlier about the health model, one of our evaluations is
very well appreciated by the complimentary medicine, but at the same time,
we have created a model for which people get better faster. Our postural
correction table will be a revenue generator for them, meaning that every
time a patient comes into the clinic, first of all there is an evaluation
with the Biotonix application, such as if I am a chiropractor I would
evaluates you. Then once you have been evaluated, what I do is look at the
assessment report that details your postural deviations and the corrections
needed. Then I program the table, and the table gives you the treatment. So
for a number of times, a patient will come into the clinic, he will see the
physician or the technician for a few minutes, he lies on the table
according to the preprogramming that has been done on the table, it corrects
your postural deviations. It is very innovative and the posture of the
people will be analyzed and all of the vocational or transgressional
deviations; you name it, you got it, the table will do it. This would be a
first for this type of device.
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The BioPrint™ application is dedicated more to health professionals, so it is a more in-depth analysis. In the health market, often times you will go to a chiropractor or a physical therapist because you have back problems or back pain, and that is a huge market. In the U.S. for instance, 11% of the population experience each year back pain that is strong enough to prevent people from doing their daily activities in the normal way. It is the second most important reason why people consult with their physician. In terms of cost for the insurance system, it is estimated at several billions of dollars. - Louise St-Onge |
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Healthcare
- Technology
Louise St-Onge, CEO
