How a Medical Device Technology Startup Found Success With Fox Rothschild

Dr. Himanshu Bhatia is a scientist, inventor and skilled physician with an MBA. His partner, Piyush Sadana, is an investment banker turned serial entrepreneur with a track record of successful exits.

When the two paired up in 2019 to start a medical device technology company named RICOVR, they thought they had a good handle on what they needed.

But the two men — developers of a portable diagnostic platform capable of detecting marijuana, COVID-19 and other critical diseases — quickly learned success required more than just a great idea.

They were looking for a reliable legal partner. And Fox Rothschild was there.

“They are really true professionals,” Bhatia said of Fox’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital attorneys. “They know what we are going through as a startup. They really understand.”

RICOVR was an early participant in Fox Launchpad, the firm’s virtual incubator and resource center for emerging companies.

The founders of the Princeton, New Jersey, based business started speaking with law firms in early 2019 while they worked to secure their first round of seed funding. Their accountant eventually pointed them to Fox.

Bhatia, RICOVR’s CEO, and Sadana, the Chief Operating Officer, stressed they were looking for more than just a lawyer. They wanted a partner for their rapidly evolving business.

Some firms, Bhatia said, appeared only interested in slapping them with fees. And others weren’t able to provide the personal relationships they desired.

At Fox, the founders found what they wanted. The firm’s Startup Package offered them a low, fixed price their company could afford while still giving Bhatia and Sadana the access they needed to navigate the problems they encountered on a nearly daily basis.

"It was, 'Hey, we get you,' not, 'Hey, we are out to get you," Bhatia said.

The founders explained Elizabeth Sigety, chair of Fox’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Practice Group, properly vetted RICOVR’s first $1.5 million seed funding deal with angel investors and a venture capital firm. But, they said, she also was able to mitigate legal risk in other parts of their business.

The promise of RICOVR lies in its intellectual property. Its proprietary XALIVA point of care diagnostic device, which is expected to start shipping in early 2022, uses a patient’s saliva to detect trace elements of different analytes. For marijuana, it can detect up to 1 nanogram levels of THC – the drug’s primary psychoactive compound – and provide employers, insurance companies and law enforcement quantifiable results.

The non-invasive, truly portable platform is more accurate and less expensive than those offered by many of RICOVR’s competitors.

Bhatia and Sadana praised Sigety for her professionalism and attention to detail. She personally took their calls and answered their questions.

“I had the confidence that there was someone there who was interested in speaking with me,” Bhatia said.

Sadana added that Fox was better attuned to the needs of startups than many other firms he’d worked with on previous projects. They understand the importance of various funding documents, employment contracts, non-disclosure agreements and research agreements, he said.

Fox Rothschild’s size and breadth of experience also proved beneficial for RICOVR. With 1,000 attorneys across the country, the firm was ready when the company needed help filing for a patent, organizing its corporate structure, negotiating a partnership agreement or drafting a manufacturing contract with a factory in California.

“Liz could always provide us the resource and expertise we required,” Sadana said.

Knowing their legal needs were being addressed, Bhatia and Sadana were free to focus on growing their business. And things are looking up, with RICOVR securing another round of funding in March 2021. The company also has signed letters of intent from potential customers to supply more than 100,000 tests a month.

RICOVR’s first XALIVA device should be ready for market soon.

“Fox Rothschild was everything we hoped for and more,” Bhatia said.