Needle disposal start-up targets NHS
A NORTH WEST entrepreneur is set to launch his low-cost needle disposal invention to the medical sector, after more than two years of development.
Cliff Kirby, managing director of NeedleSmart, has developed an electronic bench-top device which safely melts hypodermic needles as part of the sharps disposal process.
He will start manufacturing and selling the device in January and is predicting a turnover of just under £350,000 for the first year of sales.
“It can eliminate all post procedure needle stick injuries, reduce the risk of cross contamination and demonstrate a direct cost saving by reducing the number of needle stick injury claims, sharps bins in use and number and frequency of sharps bins incinerated,” he said.
Mr Kirby and a former director came up with the idea after seeing a US product that incinerated needles at the point of use.
“That was the initial idea but ours is quite different. There have been one or two attempts to launch a product like that in the UK but they have always been financially unviable for the NHS.”
The retail price was a big consideration when developing the product. “It has to be cost neutral or better to demonstrate it will be of use to the NHS,” he said.
The NeedleSmart unit will sell for around £180, without any additional costs, while similar products on the market products cost £300, and need replacement cartridges that cost between £10 and £40 each, according to Mr Kirby.
The device, which reconstitutes the metal from the needle into a spherical ball bearing, never has to be emptied and has no secondary cost. Its battery has a life of between 18 months to two years, after which the unit will need to be replaced.
The company’s ideal target customer would be the NHS, but Kirby recognises that courting the NHS and getting it to take on a new product is a long game.
However, Neil Buxton – lead neurosurgeon at the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool – sits on NeedleSmart’s board and Mr Kirby hopes that association will accelerate the process and open doors.
In the meantime, the company has developed a second tier product for a different type of needle used by dentists, which will retail at around £300. It is also looking into targeting the diabetic market with a small handheld portable unit just for diabetic needles.
The company has invested £120,000 in developing the product so it is ready for market – through a combination grants, share capital, loan capital, and personal funding. It has received research and development grant money from Envirolink (£10,000) and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (£19,500).
It is seeking investment to further develop the product and help it enter new markets. It aims to get the units into Africa in the next year and to start selling them through an ecommerce site.
“We have enough money to fully develop the product and manufacture the units, which will put us in a better position with the banking fraternity in the New Year,” said Mr Kirby.
NeedleSmart has been based at Liverpool University’s MerseyBio incubator but Mr Kirby wants to move the business to Manchester in the next six months and has already taken ‘virtual’ space at Manchester Science Park.
“We will place ourselves in Manchester rather than Liverpool. I feel the contacts in the Manchester area are more fruitful,” he said.
Mr Kirby put the decision to move in part down to Manchester’s inward investment agency MIDAS, which he said had been hugely helpful with advice and helping to find awards and grants for development.
