®
oundtable:
Tech ecosystem Industry insiders provide a look at how innovative companies are leveraging the local life sciences and tech ecosystem.
Josh Arant
COO MAKO Medical
What role is the lab sector playing in the vaccination process? As long as this virus continues to mutate and continues to create different variants, there will always be the need for a diagnostic component. Flu testing is a testament to that. We’ve had a flu vaccine for a while now but we continue to test during flu season. We believe COVID-19 will be quite similar to how the flu is today, where you still need to test for it to ensure the appropriate diagnosis is made. Hopefully, it’s not going to be at the mass scale it is now, where there are community drive-through events and massive outbreak testing, which we pray will be limited by vaccination. There is, however, an imperative for some surveillance testing with the variants if the virus continues to mutate. What does the move from lab operations to a fullservice healthcare facility look like for MAKO Medical? The laboratory was the biggest opportunity to make the most impact within healthcare. Eighty percent of doctors’ decisions are lab results-based. We feel we have been able to create some success within the lab industry, somewhat disrupting it. What we really want to do is take those same principles, that same approach, and infuse it into pharmacy, technology and other ancillary healthcare services that need to be disrupted so the patient gets the most value out of their care. We believe technology is a big opportunity with so many silos within the healthcare industry. One of the blessings that will come out of COVID is the adoption of technology. Whether it is telemedicine or just the integrations, that will help accelerate the value of healthcare tremendously. 134
| Invest: Raleigh-Durham 2021 | HEALTHCARE
