What’s your background in the sterilization industry, and what drew you to NextBeam?
I’ve been in contract sterilization my entire career (18+ years!) I always wanted to work in the healthcare industry and knew I wanted to interact with customers and put my relationship-building and communication skills to use. I love talking to new customers, hearing about their products and their challenges, and helping them find a solution. This is actually what drew me to NextBeam as well. NextBeam was founded on the premise of being customer-focused and offering a sustainable solution to sterilization.
What are some insights, trends, or news you’ve observed in the sterilization market recently that you’ve found interesting?
90% of medical devices are currently sterilized by Gamma or EO, but we think up to 60% could be sterilized with accelerator-based modalities like E-Beam.
With the two leading technologies facing many challenges and concerns, customers are ready for alternatives. X-ray will “enter the chat” in the US this year and I’ll be curious to see how it impacts the radiation market. There are newer chemical-based modalities in the works, too. Those will take longer, but I think the innovation is exciting! E-Beam is a proven & stable modality, and I think we will continue to see more customers migrate away from Gamma to more sustainable accelerator-based alternatives.
What’s one thing you wish prospects knew before reaching out?
Just one? That’s tough to answer but I think I’d say that it is never too early to think about sterilization. Sterilization is often planned late in the product development process, but the sooner we can collaborate with customers on their projects, the more efficiently we can help them ensure that the materials selected are best suited for a safe and reliable sterilization process (like E-Beam).
There are so many legacy products sterilized by EO because that process was widely accepted for many years. However, times are changing and it’s our responsibility to keep pace with industry shifts and support customers in adopting modern, efficient, and sustainable practices.
What excites you most about joining the NextBeam team, and what goals do you hope to achieve in your new role?
NextBeam wants to bring a reliable, timely, and customer-focused approach to helping customers solve their sterilization problems! Customers are tired of long lead times and other issues that they face when bringing sterile products to market. NextBeam’s new approach here really excites me! Sterilization is a critical component of the medical devices that are used and consumed every day. These products touch our friends and loved ones daily. To play a small role in the safety of the products used in the marketplace is really cool.