In September 2020, Esra Roan, cofounder and CEO of SOMAVAC Medical Solutions, told MBJ how her fledgling business was navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For a startup, it's a tremendous race,” she said at the time. “COVID gave us two or three months to stop and look around at what we're doing, really pick the essentials, and not focus on the things that we don't need.”
Flash-forward to the present, and that strategy has helped SOMAVAC continue to find success, despite the ongoing presence and unpredictability of the virus.
In July, the company moved into its new, 5,000-square-foot headquarters on Stage Post Drive, where it can grow, have office space, and manufacture its flagship product — an FDA-approved, wearable surgical drain pump device called the SOMAVAC SVS.
The product continues to be used by patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — where it’s held in high regard by Dr. Michael Neel, chief of the Division of Orthopedic Surgery — and others can obtain it through a prescription from A Fitting Place, the East Memphis lingerie and post-mastectomy wear specialist.
SOMAVAC also has a burgeoning presence in Jackson, Mississippi, where its device is utilized by physicians at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Roan said five to 10 physicians at the hospital offer its product to patients; and throughout SOMAVAC’s footprint, she estimates over 300 people have used it.
Though this is a number she hopes to grow substantially.
“We are doing everything we can to present our technology to our local health care providers as partners,” Roan said. “Ultimately, we have a chance to mitigate returns to hospitals, minimize admissions, and possibly reduce infections. All that is there … but I think what it’s going to take is patients wanting SOMAVAC, and telling the hospitals … that this is something they want, as part of their recovery.”
The startup could also be buoyed by increased credibility, as it’s wrapping up a clinical trial with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) that’s showed promising results. And it’s kicked off another study in Chattanooga, centered around breast reconstruction patients.
“Those are really important points for us,” she said. “For medical devices, proof is so important. And we believe in our product.”
That confidence, in part, has SOMAVAC pursuing more funding. The company has raised about $4.2 million in funds; and in addition to this, it's secured just over $1 million via a new, $3 million seed round.
The money from the latest round will go toward commercialization and help fund an ambition plan: expansion into a new region.
SOMAVAC has plans to expand into what Roan calls “Region Two,” which will likely be based in the Charlotte area. Though this hasn’t been finalized, Roan thinks it’s a region that has plenty of chances for growth, and she said they’ll probably hire someone to lead operations in the region.
“It’s an area where we believe there are ample opportunities,” she said. “It’s an area with lots of regional hospitals, with whom we can work, and it’s accessible to us from where we are.”
A year from now, she hopes that Region Two will be up and running, with the company hitting certain revenue targets though she declined to share these targets on the record.
“Region One, for us, is a test bed, and a learning phase,” Roan said. “Region Two is where we go out and execute based on the things we’ve learned.”
That, however, is just the goal for the next year. Jump ahead a few more years, and the goals are loftier.
“Five years from now, I want SOMAVAC to be the standard of care in every operating room (OR) in the country,” she said. “I want every physician to be asking for a SOMAVAC when they’re utilizing a drain for an elective case."
