How testing labs find new medical device clients

Why testing work comes early

A device gets tested long before the device reaches a patient. Bench tests, safety tests and biocompatibility tests feed the FDA filing and the first device study. So the best time to reach a device company is before the study or the filing.

The signs of that timing are public. They sit in FDA pages, study records, grant databases and job boards. Reading them for each company in your territory takes hours you could spend selling.

Spend less time researching medtech device companies and more time winning new business.

Read IDE approvals and new device studies

An investigational device exemption (IDE) lets a company use a device in a clinical study to collect safety and effectiveness data. For a significant risk device, the FDA approves the IDE before the study starts. Source: the FDA's IDE page.

Companies often announce IDE approvals in press releases. Many device studies also appear on ClinicalTrials.gov. A new study record can point to testing that still has to happen before the first patient. Read more on IDE approvals.

Look for Breakthrough and De Novo news, and FDA filings in progress

The Breakthrough Devices Program is for devices that may treat or diagnose life-threatening or lasting, disabling conditions better than what is on the market today. Companies often announce a designation in a press release. A company with a designation is working toward an FDA submission, and submissions carry test data.

De Novo is an FDA path for a new kind of device with no similar device on the market. The FDA posts decisions in the De Novo database. New kinds of devices often come with new test questions.

Read company news for words like "planned 510(k) submission" or "preparing a De Novo request." Those lines point to testing ahead.

Look at federal grants that move to a bigger second phase

SBIR and STTR programs fund small US companies building new technology. A Phase I award is the first, smaller step. A Phase II award is larger and pays for more development. A company moving from Phase I to Phase II often moves toward the testing a filing requires.

Search NIH RePORTER and SBIR.gov awards. Read more on NIH device grants.

Look at hiring for test, quality, and verification and validation jobs

Job posts show what a company plans next. Posts for a test engineer, a quality engineer, or a verification and validation (V&V) engineer show testing work ahead. A small team hiring its first V&V engineer may also send work to an outside lab.

In Whimbrel, ask: "Find orthopedic device companies hiring for verification and validation."

Put the companies in order for your lab

Paste the companies from a trade show into Whimbrel. Whimbrel puts them in order for your lab and says why, with the newest evidence and a source link for each. Names outside Whimbrel's coverage come back on their own, with the reason.

How Whimbrel saves you the research hours

Whimbrel reads FDA records, device studies, federal grants, company news and job posts. Each fact links to its public source. You ask in plain words, inside ChatGPT or Claude.

• Look up one company. "Give me a rundown of [company website], including its 510(k) history." Whimbrel shows what the company makes, where the company is based, and dated events like clearances, device studies, grants and funding.
• Find companies. "Find heart device companies in California hiring test engineers."
• See what is new. "What's new at neurology device companies in Massachusetts?"
• Put your names in order. "Here are the exhibitors from a trade show. Put them in order for my lab."
• Check the sources. "Where does Whimbrel's data come from?"

Set up your firm profile at sign-up, and Whimbrel tailors answers to the testing your lab does. You can skip that step, and Whimbrel still answers.

In Whimbrel, a company's website is the company's identity. If a name could fit more than one company, Whimbrel asks for the website.

Example: Ostlehurst Medical (Example)

Ostlehurst Medical (Example) got FDA approval to start a study of a new heart device. Testing comes before the first patient.

Ask Whimbrel about Ostlehurst Medical (Example) in ChatGPT or Claude. Whimbrel shows the approval and recent news, with a link to each source. You reach out with a real reason, before the testing work goes to someone else.

Common questions