Jack in The Australian today - $$ to come

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/bu...h/news-story/812b0477becc354d528cdbfc72ef5000

Australian mental health biotech Medibio is set to begin earning revenue for the first time this year as it gears up for the global launch of its product with the support of high-profile board members Olympian Michael Phelps and former US congressman Patrick Kennedy.

Managing director Jack Cosentino said it had been a 23-year journey for the company, which developed a test to diagnose mental health disorders, but this year it would finally record revenue thanks to a recent acquisition. “Buying Vital Conversations kicks off what will be many exciting milestones — 2018 will be the company’s year, not just in terms of executing on our strategy but also on receiving the first flow of revenue,” Mr Cosentino said.

Vital Conversations developed mental health check-in programs for clients such as PwC and Wesfarmers. The programs connect with Medibio’s product and give it a quick pathway to revenue generation.

The next milestone for Medibio, which has data agreements with Apple, Fitbit and Garmin, is the launch of its product scheduled for May.

US-based Mr Cosentino, who held talks with beyondblue chairwoman Julia Gillard during a recent visit to Australia, said Mr Kennedy would use his connections with the White House and Mr Phelps would reach out to the likes of Tesla’s Elon Musk prior to the launch.

“(Donald) Trump is in favour of innovative, inexpensive, highly scalable devices to manage patient population,” Mr Cosentino said. “If Trump keeps pushing the mental health agenda, it is making us more significant in a greater conversation.”

Medibio’s mental health test uses technology based on research conducted over 15 years at the University of Western Australia. It uses circadian, sleep and autonomic system biomarkers to objectively quantify and characterise mental illness.

Mr Cosentino said that while the company was executing its strategy, there was “so much noise” in the Australian public market, calling it a “very odd duck”.

He said investors had a hard time wrapping their head around the population sizes Medibio’s product would target, adding that he would eventually seek a listing in the US when the company’s market value hit $500 million.

Mr Cosentino said he understood the previous caution about the company as it had not had legitimate credibility from a scientific advisory board.

“The company now has the head of psychiatry for Harvard on our scientific advisory board and the head of Mayo Clinic mental health on that board,” Mr Cosentino said.

The Medibio chief said no other company had successfully delivered an objective measure in mental health.

“Everyone is doing the same thing around awareness but no one is doing monitoring, management and diagnosis,” he said.

“The history of Australian research and the impact it could have on mental health could be significant … we have seen CSL, Cochlear, ResMed born in Australia and you are not going to hear the end of Medibio.”