Physician Builder Spotlight: Co-Founder of Calla Lily Clinical Care

Since receiving an incredible response to our post about why more physicians should start companies, we've been shining a light on MD-entrepreneurs. Each week, we're featuring someone who's building a cool product or company that you definitely want to know about. Last week, we featured Dr. Justin Schrager, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Vital. Know someone else who should be featured? Reply in the comments or let us know directly! (theresa@offcall.com)

1. What inspired you to become a physician-entrepreneur?

It was never my intention to start a company. I jokingly say I am an “accidental entrepreneur,” but I don’t think that is entirely correct. There are many people out there who have a deep desire to start something new. The danger there is that they may have a solution that is looking for a problem. I knew a problem and discovered the solution and felt that I was uniquely positioned to help drive this forward. One of the things I am most proud of in my career up to this point is that I created an online trauma training course that is up and running at the Royal College of Surgeons-England. I had to mow through a number of people to make that happen and it’s now thriving with the broad support of the College. I suppose that shows that I’ve got the entrepreneurial spirit somewhere inside of me.

2. Tell us about what your company does and the problem you're trying to solve.

Calla Lily Clinical Care is a British B-corp women’s healthcare company that has developed a leak-free vaginal drug delivery platform. Most people don’t realize there are as many if not more drugs that should be given vaginally than there are nasal ones. But vaginal formulations often cause significant leakage. Some therapeutics ask women to lie down for extended periods of time with each dosage or doctors jump to systemic (oral or injected) formulations which can have significant side effects or—in the case of injected medicines—be very painful. This was something I had direct experience with. During my 7 rounds of IVF (all of which failed), my doctor quickly jumped from vaginal progesterone to the intramuscular shot which was unbelievably painful, worse than any other IVF drug I was given. I still remember it vividly. If we can find a way to get the right dose to the right place with a minimum of side-effects, why wouldn’t we? Calla Lily is starting with progesterone partly due to my own experience and partly due to the UK government guidance that all women at risk of miscarriage receive vaginal progesterone. The MHRA (FDA equivalent) is fast-tracking us as the world’s first miscarriage prevention drug-device. And that’s only the beginning: infertility, pre-term birth prevention, cervical cancer, the vaginal microbiome. We can deliver anything in a patient-centric manner.

3. What's your advice for someone thinking about pursuing entrepreneurship or a nontraditional career in medicine?

Do it. When I was a little doctor (young, not short), I thought physicians who never practiced clinically were ignoring the privilege of being a doctor. We are invited into peoples’ lives at their most vulnerable moments and that is an incredible honor. As I’ve aged and my career has transitioned from clinical medicine to medical education and now to women’s health innovation, I no longer believe that. There are so many ways in which medical training can translate into larger roles within the entire system that benefit more patients than one might be able to treat hands-on. I do believe the clinical practice brings a new perspective and I would encourage everyone who is considering a nontraditional pathway to put in the time. You’ll know when it’s the right time to branch out.

4. Since building your company, what’s one lesson you’ve learned about entrepreneurship that wasn't obvious to you before?

You can NOT do this alone. My co-founder is an ex-Goldman Sachs investment banker. Our chief product officer is a mastermind and a dedicated manager of people. Our scientific team is astounding: 7 PhDs on staff. The product design team is creative and looks at everything in a different way. I give my co-founder, Thang, all the credit for pulling this incredibly diverse and talented group into my world. It means we are able to look at problems from so many angles and make sure everything we produce has the patient’s comfort and dignity in mind. I would also say prepare to be humbled. There are no super stars in a start-up office space. Everyone takes out the trash, loads the dishwasher. When you’ve got a PhD also working as the office barista, well that should tell you something.

Connect With Lara on LinkedIn or learn more about her company here.