Transcription

• Speaker #0

  This podcast is created by Coelis.

• Speaker #1

  I think we can be proud of the quality of our service to the customers. And I think we are recognized for that. The proximity and expertise we provide on the field, close to every customer, educating further, being at that site to hear their feedback and innovate further. That is truly a strong differentiator.

• Speaker #2

  First of all,

• Speaker #0

  thank you. Prostatalk.

• Speaker #2

  Dear Prostat lovers, welcome back to Prostatalk. Today's episode is a little bit bittersweet for me because, well, it's my last one as your host. Yeah. I'm off to new adventures. But before I go, I wanted to bring you someone very special. Antoine Leroy, the founder of Coedis, the company behind the game-changing tech in prostate cancer care, and behind this podcast as well. Antoine is a French genius based in Grenoble with a PhD in computer science and mathematics, basically a person who gets way too excited about algorithms. We are going to get to know the story behind Coelisse, what drive their innovations, and how they are shaping the future of targeted prostate care. So grab your coffee and tea, your curiosity, and maybe a tissue for me, and let's jump right into this very special episode. Ready? Let's go. Hello, Antoine. It's a special interview today because I usually interview urologists, but that's not the case with you. So, for our listeners, could you briefly introduce yourself?

• Speaker #1

  Well, hello, Thomas. And first of all, thank you for inviting me. It's a pleasure and great pride as we are almost celebrating our 20 years.

• Speaker #2

  Wow.

• Speaker #1

  I am almost a urologist, to contradict what you just said. I've been working with urologists for 20 years, spent countless hours with them, learning their life, their needs. And this is why, from an engineering background with a PhD in computer science and image-guided surgery, my late partner Patrick and myself founded Coelis back in 2006. I've been driving this company and and innovation since then with very much passion and pride.

• Speaker #2

  Thank you for that information. So we understand that you are the co-founder of the company Coelis with Patrick Henry. Can you tell us why Coelis? What led you to create it? What's your background in this journey?

• Speaker #1

  Well, creating a company is certainly something unusual. So it's a mix of understanding a market need, the so-called unmet need. And at that time, back in the year 2000, it's also a matter of who you meet in life. So at that time in the year 2000, I met with my late partner, Patrick Henry, who was a genius of business development and marketing worldwide, and innovation, technology innovation, specifically in the field of urology. I met with Patrick, I met with a young brilliant urologist at that time as well, and starting from technology that we together developed here in Grenoble, in the French Silicon Valley of Grenoble. Well, one day, Patrick and I looked at each other in the eye and said, well, let's make it a company.

• Speaker #2

  So the company started out as a startup, and today you have nearly 110 employees spread across continents from Europe to the US, Asia, and Latin America. How do you manage that kind of growth?

• Speaker #1

  Yes, it's true. We're an old startup, if you will. We're an innovative, growing company. I mean, we... continue to work as a startup company, working for innovation, looking for new developments, new markets, and thriving to grow and accelerate the growth. This is first of all possible because we are in an environment, in a market that is also still growing. I mean, prostate cancer and worldwide. So somehow good for us and in the end, good for patients to have access to the technology. Now, as a chief executive officer, the way to sustain the growth, I mean, the purpose is to sustain the growth. More people, more activity and volume of affairs to manage countries in the world. So we are growing. So that's, if your question is about how to sustain that growth, well, we need to be thoughtful on where to invest our. existing resources, choosing our priorities, working with partners on the field, but also financial partners, which we have, and together making the right decisions and getting priorities to continue and grow our footprint in the market for urologists and patients.

• Speaker #2

  And by the way, what are your ambitions for the years to come?

• Speaker #1

  Our ambition clearly is an innovation market. Bringing new technologies to the field, our ambition is to become the technology of choice for every patient in the world, from diagnosis to personalized treatment in focal in prostate cancer. That is our ambition for the years to come. There's so much that remains to be done.

• Speaker #2

  I imagine that over the past 20 years, the company has gone through several phases. How did it manage to adapt?

• Speaker #1

  That is true. Phase one was certainly research, development, and early pioneers. It was at a time where prostate imaging was in its infancy from 2006 to 2012, I would say. Then, to your question, first round of fundraising in 2012, with which we've grown internationally and we've developed our flagship product, that is the Trinity platform. version one at this time that was in 2015 and we were very proud to be number one on the market recognized and growing fast since ever a second round of fundraising right before covid helped us to grow the us and german subsidiaries and grow further in asia as well in Latin America and again sustain our investments towards growing our footprint in the world.

• Speaker #2

  If you had to name one key moment in the creation of Coelis, which one would you choose?

• Speaker #1

  One key moment in my life at Coelis?

• Speaker #2

  Yeah.

• Speaker #1

  Wow.

• Speaker #2

  Not easy question.

• Speaker #1

  No, since 20 years, not easy question. A few come to mind. I think I know. It could be our first, you know, C-mark. It could be our first focal therapy patient. It could be our first podium presentation. at the focal therapy meeting. It could be when I remember Dr. Coleman at Sloan Kettering, New York, called me and said, Antoine, I want to buy eight trinities. But I think the one that just came to mind that really struck me and stays in my memory is when... Professor Bako from Norway, I think that was at the time when he received the best paper award of the EAU for his randomized trial on fusion biopsy back in 2017. He called me out of the blue one day and said, Antoine, you're saving the lives of patients. And that had an impact. And I'm very proud to share that impact and that message with the rest of the employees at Coelis, because that is our passion as well.

• Speaker #2

  Thank you for your sincerity and sharing with us these moments. Antoine, in your opinion, what is the strength of Coelis?

• Speaker #1

  We are experts in what we do. We are experts in urology, prostate cancer, technology. Number one. Number two, that expertise, we need to implement it on the field and get recognized for it. And I think we can be proud of the quality of our service to the customers. And I think we are recognized for that, the proximity and expertise we provide on the field, close to every customer, educating further, being at that site to hear their feedback and innovate further. That is truly a strong differentiator in the world to us. So that is one of our strengths on the field. In-house, well, excellent people at all levels of the company, from the marketing and communication team to the operations and supply chain that we have grown over the years. Of course, the research and development that builds the future of our products. and our partners in the subsidiaries in the US, in Germany, in Latin America, in Asia. That energy they put, that expertise and passion they put in their work is certainly a reason of our success.

• Speaker #2

  Very interesting. It seems like Coedis Foundation was based about meetings, meetings with Patrick Henry, meetings with urologists, meetings with people who are working with you. So the human in the key.

• Speaker #1

  The key strength of a company is only their employees.

• Speaker #2

  Let's talk a bit about the values of Great East Now, if you want. I know innovation is a core component that matters a lot to you, and you mention it. Could you tell me more about that, innovation?

• Speaker #1

  Innovation, it may be a key word, a buzzword, but it has a meaning. It's about novelty. So with innovation, we change the way... We change the way the world runs. Our world is prostate cancer. So we change the way patients are being managed, diagnosed, treated. We change the way the physicians and hospitals manage their own workflow and activities and own revenues. Frankly, so innovation is that, it's about how to pivot the world towards a more efficient and quality of life world. So we keep that in mind as we push technology that has a purpose. It has a purpose of changing the world of our customers and the world we live in.

• Speaker #2

  From the very beginnings, Coeliz has always worked closely with physicians. Would you say that this strong clinical collaboration is what shaped the company's DNA and led to the development of disruptive technologies, as you mentioned, that are now influencing the gold standard in Europe, the US and Asia?

• Speaker #1

  Of course, yeah, yeah, certainly, certainly. And again, we can be very proud that since inception, since 2006, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2018, those dates are dates where key publications came out. And we can be proud that our work, at some level, participated in pushing that scientific innovation, those publications out, so that year after year, well, the guidelines of key societies here in Europe or in the U.S. or in Japan and so forth have evolved towards, well, more imaging, more precision, more targeting, and soon, certainly, more focal treatment. So certainly, yeah.

• Speaker #2

  So Coelis initially focused on the diagnostic phase of the prostate cancer care pathway, but quite early on, the company has also gradually expanded its focus to include treatment and follow-up, starting with the second look in 2012, then enabling focal therapies with needle guidance, and most recently introducing its own micro-revibration technology. What drew this strategic evolution, Antoine?

• Speaker #1

  It's an evolution seen from the outside. From the inside, I can tell you the idea was in our heads since the beginning. In other words, and we talked about what is innovation, our idea, Patrick and myself, from the beginning was to provide an innovation that would embrace diagnosis and treatment. So a platform, an imaging platform that would be a tool for the physician to manage the patient from early on. diagnosing biopsy to down the hill personalized focal treatment. So some sort of versatility to our technology solution. Of course we went Through that pathway, step by step, and on a commercial standpoint, as well as on a regulatory and clinical standpoint, we started with the biopsy, the lower hanging fruit, and the first logically and chronologically to be addressed for the market, with, well, obviously some nice success so far. with a growing install base in the world. So obviously the strategy is continue and work with those physicians, pioneers and followers to bring more to that, especially in the treatment space.

• Speaker #2

  Speaking about strategy, you've taken Coelis from a diagnostic innovator to a player in focal treatments with breakthrough technologies recognized across continents. What's next? What are the key areas of focus for the future? If I may, of course.

• Speaker #1

  Again, there's so much to do already in where we are. First of all, we are not done with prostate cancer yet. If you want me to project into, I don't know, 10 years, well, the human body has enough clinical conditions for us to focus one day or the other to other conditions. Prostate has other conditions. And the UN body probably has other conditions to address. It's far in the future. We have a lot of ideas. We have a lot of ideas.

• Speaker #2

  I have a slightly more personal question, Antoine. If you hadn't created QoDIS, what would your profession be today?

• Speaker #1

  Wow, hard to answer, right? Because it's been 20 years. So let's imagine I would be either a brilliant chief technology officer in a world company somewhere in the world, or maybe a surgeon like my late father. Why not? Or who knows, maybe an astronaut, like our little boys.

• Speaker #2

  So Antoine, you probably know this by now, but I'd like to ask my guest one last surprise question. So Antoine, what's your all-time favorite song?

• Speaker #1

  My favorite song? Believe it or not, I may look quiet. One of my favorites is a hardcore rock, like Thunderstruck by CDC.

• Speaker #2

  Okay, perfect. Excellent choice. Thank you so much Antoine for your time and for sharing this valuable insight that helped our listeners get to know the person behind Coelis. We hope you enjoyed the experience and I hope to see you soon, maybe in 10 years to speak about...

• Speaker #1

  You will be invited. I did enjoy this interview like I did enjoy the years spent with you too. Thank you.

• Speaker #2

  Thank you Antoine. Bye bye. And just like that, Pros That Tools comes to an end. For me, at least. After 20 episodes filled with insight, courage and incredible conversations, it's time for me to pass the mic. I want to thank all of you who have listened, supported and shared this journey with me. To my amazing guests who joined from every corner of the world, thank you for your openness and dedication. To my behind-the-scenes dream team, Morgane Rousset and Claire Josson, I couldn't have done this without you. A big thank you as well to Coelis for believing in the power of a dialogue and for your ongoing commitment to transforming prostate cancer care. I leave with me a full heart, proud of the conversation we've had and convinced that these voices will continue to move the needle in awareness and care. You might forget me, but I won't forget you. Over to you, studios. Huge thanks to our dedicated listeners. If you enjoyed the podcast, make sure to subscribe for more captivating content. Your support means the world. If you found this informative, quick favor, please drop up a five-star review. Your feedback helps us grow and deliver quality insight. Have topics you'd love us to cover? Share your ideas in the comments or connect with us on social media. Your input guides the future of... prostate talk. Thanks for being a crucial part of our community. For more urology insights, visit Curlies.com. Stay tuned and see you next time.