HEALTHCARE / SME

By FedEx | First published: March 29, 2023    Updated: August 16, 2024

magAssist is a medtech company driving innovations in cardiovascular health with their pioneering life support systems. We sat down with founder and CEO Dr. Polin Hsu to discover her million-dollar start-up journey.

• Our FedEx Small Business Grant Contest (SBGC) recognizes outstanding start-ups and small businesses across the region, helping them accelerate and grow.
• Medical device company magAssist, a previous SBGC winner, is now going from strength to strength with new patents for devices that help save lives.
• Founder Dr. Polin Hsu recounts her start-up journey and shares tips for the region’s SMEs.

Behind every lucky new business break lies a lot of hard work. That’s why since 2021, we’ve sponsored the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, partnering with Forbes Asia to hold the FedEx Small Business Grant Contest. Each year, we award four business grants to Asia Pacific’s outstanding start-up talent, helping promising SMEs grow and succeed.

Running a small business is about thinking differently, finding new solutions and challenging the status quo. One previous winner with a proven ability to shape future innovation is magAssist. A leading medical device company established in 2017 in China, magAssist provide multi-organ life support systems for patients and clinicians nationwide.

In seven years since the start-up launched, magAssist has obtained over 200 patents and is widely recognized by industry peers and experts worldwide.

Shaping cutting-edge technology to save people’s lives

Ever since she was a medical student, magAssist founder Dr. Polin Hsu was determined to become a leader in advancing groundbreaking technology: breakthroughs that could save people’s lives. While studying at Cambridge University and RWTH Aachen University for a double doctorate degree, she devoted herself to the in-depth theory of minimally invasive artificial heart design.

Dr. Hsu’s return to China alerted her to the pressing demand for life support devices and artificial heart systems research. She continued her research, and in 2017 decided to start her own business developing new products for patients with heart failure. magAssist was founded with one goal: to develop medical devices as a last line of defense for patients with acute or severe illnesses.

A long and challenging road to medical breakthroughs

Dr. Hsu and her team experienced all kinds of challenges in the beginning. Each time, the team kept a record of each step to help identify areas for adjustments and improvements.

“Many experiments led to roadblocks or dead ends, but we never gave up. We take every step of the product development process seriously, because it’s life-saving technology,” said Dr. Hsu.

After three long years of R&D, their commitment and persistence paid off. magAssist’s first project, MoyoAssist®, an extracorporeal ventricular assist device (extra-VAD), was first used in clinical trials in June 2021. The following year, MoyoAssist® was applied in minimally invasive intervention cases, a first-of-its-kind procedure in China. The device provides patients with more options for clinical treatment, helping to reduce complications and improve post-operative recovery.

“The R&D and production of life support devices like artificial hearts, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and organ care systems are critical to medical advances and healthcare developments in China,” shared Dr. Hsu.

Since then, Dr. Hsu’s team has refused to stand still, focusing on new breakthroughs and winning numerous industry awards and accolades. In 2023, magAssist launched BreathMo® which offers ECMO as long-term lifesaving support to patients in need. Additional products and research patents continue to focus on cardiovascular and respiratory assistance as well as donor organ care.

Dr. Hsu is honored to have been recognized by FedEx’s Small Business Grant Contest: “We were truly impressed and inspired by the disruptive ideas of other winners, whose technologies are creating a positive impact in their communities. At magAssist, we hope our work will help more patients in China and around the globe for a better, healthier world”, she added.

Are you a small business hoping to make a big impact? At FedEx, we want to support you in transforming those ideas into successful realities. We’re championing innovation through our FedEx Small Business Grant Contest, and with business advice and tips to help you at every step of the way.