1. What is Nextern
Nextern is a leading product development, manufacturing and services provider to the medical device industry. We focus on five core strategic markets – peripheral vascular, interventional cardiology, neuromodulation, electrophysiology, and structural heart, with technical expertise in catheters, guidewires, capital electronics, pulse generators, leads and precision metals. Nextern operates across 5 sites, located throughout the United States, Central America, and Asia.
2. What about Nextern’s work and impact makes you the most proud?
Helping to improve patient lives. Nextern’s mission is to partner with our customers to solve patient needs and improve lives. It’s in our DNA to take on the most complex technical challenges in medtech and develop solutions that advance the state of medical care. We’re very fortunate to be in this position and find it highly rewarding to see the impact our products have on patients.
3. What is on the horizon for Nextern? What is something exciting people can expect to see from the organization in the near future?
We just launched our consulting services business, which we’re very excited about. This broadens our capabilities beyond product development and manufacturing to include regulatory, clinical, quality, and product lifecycle management services. It positions Nextern as true full-service solutions provider to the medical device industry.
With respect to our product development, manufacturing and precision components businesses, we’re in a period of significant growth. Taking on several new programs, expanding our footprint, adding talent and integrating new capabilities.
4. Tell us about your professional journey in the healthcare industry. How did you first get involved and what were some of the key moments that led you to starting Nextern?
I’ve been in medical devices for nearly my entire career. I began as an R&D engineer and grew through various roles in product development, operations, and general management at companies including St. Jude Medical, Abbott, CSI, and Nonin Medical.
I first came to know Nextern as a customer while in a previous role. Our company brought Nextern in to lead product development for a major new cardiovascular device platform. At the same time we were working with three other contract partners on separate projects, so it was a great side-by-side comparison of 4 leading CDMOs. In short, Nextern’s performance stood well above the others and it was during this time where I really began to understand the company’s potential.
Over time, I came to know Nextern’s leadership team quite well and we stayed close. Further down the road in my career when the opportunity arose to join, I was all in.
5. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a leader and how did you navigate it?
There have been several. Major scale-up efforts, company turn-arounds, cultural transformations, etc. Every role and every company has its own unique set of challenges and there’s not a single playbook that works in all scenarios. But good process, operating discipline, accountability, transparency, and open communication are all transferable and highly critical when navigating a difficult period. Individual heroics may work on occasion, but they’re not sustainable and will only take you so far. Over the course of time, you’ll be as strong as the team you have around you. So always invest into talent and the right team will make almost any challenge navigable.
6. What advice would you give to aspiring healthcare leaders and founders who are looking to make a lasting impact?
Have a plan. Work hard. Deliver results. Master the day job, then ask for more. Surround yourself with the right people and treat them well. Mistakes are inevitable, so learn from them and keep going.
7. Outside of your career, what are some of the favorite ways to spend your time?
Outside of work, it’s as much family time as possible. Fishing, sports, travel, movies weekends at the lake, etc. Also trying to keep up with my oldest son in chess, which is a losing proposition for dad.
8. What do you appreciate most about being part of the Medical Alley community?
I see several benefits. Networking events are a great opportunity to meet other leaders in the industry and stay connected with colleagues. Working groups on specific topics allow for collaboration on challenges that the industry, as a whole, is facing. Finally, Medical Alley leadership has always been very helpful connecting industry leaders to resources and contacts who may otherwise be difficult to reach.
9. As healthcare continues to evolve, where do your see the biggest opportunity for growth to drive efficiency for your company and consumers?
Several macro-level trends are re-shaping healthcare. Advancements in technology are improving diagnostics and patient monitoring, leading to earlier detection and prevention of disease. Point of care continues to shift from hospitals to lower cost settings such as ASCs and OBLs. Large language models are broadly increasing productivity for providers, payers, pharma and device companies. And GLP-1 adoption continues to expand across a growing number of use-cases.
Specific to medical devices, particularly in the cardiovascular space, the trend is towards smaller, less invasive, smarter, and connected platforms. Nextern has been very intentional about building core competencies to excel in these specific areas. We’re one of the very few contract development/manufacturing organizations with expertise both in minimally invasive, catheter-based technologies and advanced capital electronics. For our customers, it means we’re a partner who can design, develop, and manufacture an entire therapeutic or diagnostic platform – not just a device. We believe this puts us in a clear position of strength as the shift towards minimally invasive therapy continues.
10. How can the Medical Alley community rise to face those changes and challenges?
Continue to bring the community together to discuss and share best practices and lessons learned on topics facing the entire industry.
