POSTED BY
Liz Moyles
Anne Osdoit is a lovely, inspirational, fresh, and considered leader. She has an infectious smile and laugh and attracts people to her. Not only is she spearheading the team at Moon Surgical, a company which is highly admired in the Robotics space, but she is also a very active member of the Sofinnova Partners, a busy mother and wife, a mentor to many others in this industry and a published authoress too! No end of talents ….and I probably only know a few – I am sure there are many more.
I was lucky enough to catch Anne just after New Year as she prepared for 2024 and a very exciting year ahead for her and the team at Moon Surgical. I hope you enjoy the interview.
Thanks, for your time Anne and for your insight!
- When I run a mini-interview with anyone, I love to ask this question. People tell me they are often intrigued about what attracted others to the industry. So, Anne, how did you end up in your role and in this industry- was it a childhood dream?
That’s exactly what it was! From being a child, I always, always, wanted to be a medic. It was my childhood dream and my teenage ambition. However, my parents had some reservations – we had never had a physician in our family. They warned me that if I chose Medicine as a vocation, that I would probably have to live with them for another 10 years. At the time, my family lived in Paris and the cost of student accommodation or living away from home would have been immense. It was true – to get through Med School I would have had to live at home with my parents until my mid twenties. Even though, it would have been hugely generous of them to allow me to do that, as you can imagine, I realised that wasn’t really an ideal option. It also didn’t fit in with my idea of being independent.
So ultimately, I chose against Medical School, and instead elected Biomedical Engineering as this meant I was still achieving my dreams of being close to physicians and patients and in and out of hospitals. I reviewed my options and set my ambitions to working within the Medical Device industry.
- When you left academia Anne, what was your first role and did it turn out to be as expected?
At the age of 23, I applied to Mauna Kea Technologies for an Application Specialist role. It was a fantastic learning experience, as essentially the role was all about initiating all the non-R&D related activities, such as regulatory work, clinical trials, marketing, etc. The most exciting part of it is that it was a lot of “firsts”: First In Human, first booth at a tradeshow, first demonstration to physicians, first customer installation, first CE Mark, first FDA Clearance. I enjoyed the diversity a lot. I thrived – I loved getting things done and working alongside physicians and patients.
- So, what led you to Moon Surgical and how did you gather such a fantastic team around you?
Moon Surgical originated in an academic lab in Paris. The team were working on a concept of a co-manipulated robot for soft tissue surgery. This concept had been pioneered and developed over years at the ISIR lab by Professor Brice Gayet and his team. Professor Gayet is a world-renowned surgeon and laparoscopy legend. I am honoured to call him a very dear and long-time friend.
For a time, Brice and I worked together on various projects at Mauna Kea Technologies. One day, Brice invited me to watch a demonstration of what he and his team had prototyped in the lab. I immediately saw the differentiation and potential value of the technology. It struck me as a great foundation for a mass market product; a technology capable of addressing some very systematic needs in laparoscopic surgery. Brice invited me to work with him and lead the team. From that point, I secured rights around the technology and recruited our first software resource. Someone, I had worked with at Mauna Kea. The ball started rolling – I was passionate about the potential I saw before me. I started speaking with many industry experts about how to build a team around it. They gave me advice, some names, and that’s how I reached out to our first few employees.
- Moon Surgical is a very metaphoric name for a company. I love the lunar connection and all the aspirational values you have associated with the word Moon e.g. one of your Company values is “shoot for the Moon”. Where does the name “Moon Surgical” originate– has it got a special meaning?
One of my first tasks was to come up with a name for our company. I wanted something aspirational, something that people could relate to. Something that was not evocative of Medical Devices. Our initial small team were very ‘space geeky’. I’d call them and each of them seemed to have Lego rockets as their background on the Teams calls. I liked it. I chose Moon Surgical because while the Moon is an ambitious destination, mankind has already shown it to be achievable. It gives us something much stronger than a North star to follow!
- You’ve already alluded to why you are you so passionate about your technology, but could you elaborate? What is so special about your technology and what difference is this going to make to the patient and surgical team?
That’s a very easy question for me to answer. There are really two things that drive me constantly to do my best and drive people around me to do the same: 1) our team, and 2) the patients we treat. We have assembled a fantastic group, of people at Moon Surgical. They are very high performing, and we operate within a constructive, open, transparent, and respectful company culture. We have very solid values that we use as mantras: Shoot for the Moon, Make Things That matter, and the Team is the Product.
Our technology has the potential to treat millions of patients every year around the world and to turn the Operating Room into a better place. Sometimes, it can feel overwhelming to realise we have this opportunity to make such a change to patients and surgeons lives / experiences, but mostly it is just very exciting!
- How do you prepare for a New Year and all the opportunities and excitement that the first quarter of the year brings? 2023 was such a challenging year for many – how do you keep motivated whilst emerging and inspiring the team?
The first thing I did to prepare for 2024 so that we could face it head on and on the best footing, was to shut the company down between Christmas and New Year 2023. We had all had a very intense 2023 and we needed a well-deserved break. I did not want anyone in the team to feel pressure to answer emails, slack or WhatsApp messages over the festive break, and I realised the best way to do this, was to declare ‘skool is out ‘and that everyone should ensure they would have a nice, undisturbed rest with their close ones. The second key component was “shared goals”, making sure everyone in the company knows what we plan to achieve collectively. On a quarterly basis, I present my board slide decks to the team and we subsequently have systematic weekly meetings as an entire team to review our objectives and progress against key results.
- You appear extremely focused. You are evidently very clear about what you want Moon Surgical and the team to achieve and how you want to deliver this. Who / what inspires and energises you?
It’s the people around me. My family, friends, our team. I love seeing how they all manage their daily lives; how they strive to be good parents while making an impact professionally; how they balance it all and still retain time to be themselves whether that is as a couple, a family or independently. I also get a lot of energy, inspiration, and a feeling of being grounded, from the outdoors. I’m a big running fan and I am a long-distance runner. I get a lot of inspiration from runners and their stories. The challenges they face and overcome. I love reading about Steve Prefontaine, for instance. He was a long-distance American runner competing in the 1972 Summer Olympics, who set records between 1973 and 1975 at every distance from 2,000 to 10, 000 metres. I also like reading the stories of many current famous ultra trailers.
- So, Anne, what are you and the team working towards next? what are your priorities and what would really make a difference to Moon?
2024 for us is about executing our Limited Market Release between the EU and US and turning initial usage and adoption into “reasons to believe” and of course, developing a sales model. Our definition of success for this year, is to have hundreds of clinical cases completed as well as convincing initial customers of the value of Maestro.
- How is the market receiving Maestro? What feedback have you had from KOLs/ surgeons so far? any constructive comments?
Over the last 3 years, we have worked with many surgeons, surgical staff and Administrators and received very positive feedback about the value of the Maestro system. Time and time again, they tell us it makes their lives easier; it makes their surgical activity more reliable, their procedures faster, and enables them to keep doing a good job despite staff shortages and the inherent limitations of laparoscopy. One of the best comments I have ever heard, and which I always carry with me, was from our very first clinical user. He told me that as far as he was concerned, there was a very big problem with Maestro – it was that we took it away from him! That was a huge piece of conviction in the value and benefit Maestro- a significant testimonial!
- That is a fabulous piece of feedback and a wonderful ‘complaint’ from the first user!!! It feels natural to ask you next about the legacy you would like Moon and your team to leave on the landscape.
I believe, our company can have a profound impact on the way surgery is done. Moon’s mission is to create the Operating Room of the future- a sustainable, efficient, digitalized one, delivering the benefits of surgical robotics that surgeons love, whilst preserving existing surgical workflow, technique, and instrumentation.
- That’s a very clear vision Anne. On that theme then, what opportunities do you see out there in the medical devices world to be more innovative?
One of the biggest opportunities, in my mind, is the power behind the Data. You can’t control what you don’t measure, and you certainly can’t improve it. The Operating Room is one of the most poorly documented places in a hospital. For example, as a patient, have you ever received a report on a surgery you’ve undergone? I haven’t and that’s because the data for such a report isn’t being captured. It doesn’t exist. At Moon Surgical, we are working towards leveraging our Maestro platform and its pristine sensing capabilities to provide insights to all stakeholders: Surgeons, Staff, Administrators. Ultimately it is about digitizing the OR and creating an integrated feedback loop for a better management and continuous improvement of surgical practices.
- Has anyone one played a particularly key role in your career?
That would be Gérard Hascoët. He is the founder of MD Start (the MedTech company builder out of which Moon Surgical was seeded and developed). He is definitely a role model, a mentor and a friend. He was kind enough to partner with me when I was still a young professional. He ‘role modelled’ for me all the intricacies of being a MedTech CEO whilst also being an investor. He showed deep respect for what I could bring to what we were building at the time. The best piece of advice he gave me was this: “if you are going to make it, make it big”. In effect it’s going to take the same effort to develop something ‘small’ and ‘great’, i.e., to play it ‘small’ as it will, to develop a very ambitious, category creating product and company. So why not take the challenge?
- That’s a very grounding ethos to have as a CEO. It sounds like Gerard has been a powerful figure in your professional career. On a similar theme, reflecting on your career to date, has there been any specific defining moment you can now identify?
After 10 wonderful years at Mauna Kea Technologies, I was ready for my next challenge. I decided to return to early-stage projects. I wanted greater exposure to some of the more diverse aspects of the Medical Device industry, while continuing to work daily with physicians. I approached Antoine Papiernik and asked him if he would grab a coffee with me, which he did. Little did I realise that this unassuming coffee meeting would lead to MD Start and my other role. Antoine introduced me to Gérard, who introduced me to MD Start and to the opportunity, which I grasped with gusto, of running MD Start, managing its portfolio of incubated companies. Definitely a turning point!
- We’ve covered a lot of ground here Anne and there’s already some great insights to be taken from what you have shared. What advice would you give to someone who's looking to enter this space, whether that's a fresh grad straight out of university, or someone looking to transition their career?
I’m generally very hesitant to give advice. One of the things I have learnt over the past few years is ‘listen to advice’ and also, ‘not to listen to advice ‘ ;-)
- What do your friends and family think of you working in Surgical Robotics?’
They think it’s extremely cool and exciting. My youngest son is very eager to see the robot live!
- Finally, what song would get you jigging on the dance floor / what do you do in your spare time to relax and inspire / re-energise you???
I run with my husband while listening to music or podcasts. No better way to rejuvenate!
That’s been a really enjoyable and interesting interview Anne. Thank you for all your time and insights. Here’s to the forthcoming commercialisation of Maestro, and to the Moon and beyond!
