Philadelphia's Growth + New Facility Expansion with Kymanox

In a recent episode of BioBuzz Network’s What’s the Buzz?!, Chris Frew sat down with Alexis Dechelette, PhD, Director of the Design and Innovation group at Kymanox, to discuss the company’s rapid growth, its Philadelphia hub, and insights into the city’s thriving life sciences ecosystem.

Kymanox, founded by Stephen Perry, has built a reputation for excellence over its 20-year history, specializing in medical devices, drug delivery systems, and combination products. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services, including regulatory support, quality compliance, and strategic consultation, making it a trusted partner for emerging enterprises.

Expansion into Philadelphia

The conversation highlighted Kymanox’s expansion into Philadelphia, catalyzed by its 2021 acquisition of Neuma, a design company co-founded by Alexis. The new hub in King of Prussia serves as a center for design and testing excellence, enabling capabilities like head-to-head device comparisons, custom device design, and rapid iteration – all of which significantly shorten development timelines.

The Philadelphia hub has recently expanded, adding lab space for design verification and introducing GMP manufacturing capabilities. These advancements allow Kymanox to support everything from clinical trials to low-volume commercial production, bridging the gap to high-volume manufacturing while mitigating risks and reducing project timelines.

Growth of the Philadelphia Ecosystem

Alexis also shared insights into Philadelphia’s growing prominence as a life sciences hub. With strong research institutions, a robust pharmaceutical presence, and a flourishing cell and gene therapy sector, the city is becoming a magnet for innovation. Companies like Legend, Gamma Bio, and Tolerance Bio are further fueling the region’s growth, underscoring its collaborative and competitive environment.

Kymanox’s philosophy emphasizes efficiency and practicality when developing new devices. Alexis advises companies to evaluate existing solutions before investing in new designs, ensuring that resources are used strategically. Kymanox’s consultative approach fosters long-term partnerships, providing startups and virtual companies with the expertise they need without the burden of full-time hires.

By tailoring resources to client needs and reducing development risks, Kymanox positions itself as an invaluable partner for early-stage companies refining their funding and regulatory strategies.

As Alexis and Chris wrapped up their discussion, it became clear that Kymanox’s strategic expansion and client-focused culture position it as a key player in life sciences innovation. With Philadelphia’s burgeoning ecosystem as a backdrop, Kymanox is poised to help shape the next wave of breakthroughs in the industry.

Watch the Full Interview:

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Transcript:

Chris Frew [00:00:03]:

Good afternoon everybody. Hope you're having a wonderful day. My name is Chris Frew with BioBuzz Networks. Excited to be live again with another one of our “What's the Buzz?!” This time we're talking about Philadelphia expansion happening with Kymenox and my guest today, Alexei Dechelette. Alexis, welcome.

Alexis Dechelette [00:00:26]:

Thank you, Chris. Happy to be on the show here today.

Chris Frew [00:00:30]:

Yeah, excited to have you. You know we've known and been fans of Kymanox for a long time. I got to visit your facility a little about a year ago. I'm really excited to hear about the news you're going to share today. Before we jump into that, just a little housekeeping for everybody. Anybody tuning in new, just a little bit about BioBuzz. BioBuzz is your community infrastructure for life science innovation, ecosystems. We really focus on two things. One is building community and making sure the ecosystems are fully connected and you have access to the resources and talent you need. And the other thing is workforce. We are your workforce partner. Whether you need flexible fractional talent or full time search executive support. BioBuzz brings all the talent and the community together in one cohesive, nice platform. We're excited to again support the Philadelphia community today by showcasing really exciting news. So without further ado. Alexi, take one. Can you take a minute to just introduce yourself to the audience and a little bit about Kymanox?

Alexis Dechelette [00:01:35]:

Absolutely. So I'm Alexis Dechelette. I'm a director at Kymanox. I lead the design and innovation group at Kymanox and we are located in the design office in the King of Prussia area. So the Philly area. So I've been doing med devices for a long time. Originally came from France to the US stayed after grad school. I'm a fluid dynamics expert and I dove into med device and drug delivery devices right on after graduation. And it's been a passion of mine to move products and projects and treatments to patients. And then what happened is, you know, worked at a company that, that got, went bankrupt. We started a design company that got acquired by Kymanox in 2021 and everything exploded from there. So the Philly, Philly office became kind of a center of excellence for design and testing and, and Kymanox as a whole is a lot bigger than where we were before. So 300 people, RTP headquarters offices globally in Switzerland and Germany. So ready to serve the life sciences community as best we can.

Chris Frew [00:02:45]:

That's great. And, and just for making sure we frame it. So you, you specialize in drug devices, medical devices, combination products. But Kymanox as a whole does a lot more. Correct.

Alexis Dechelette [00:02:57]:

Kymanox as a whole does a lot more regulatory support for submissions. Audit support, quality, you know, compliance, creating compliance. We do a lot of also CMC support for our clients, program management. We have an emerging enterprise, kind of a group that helps very small companies like single founder companies kind of expand and roadmap and being strategic about what they do. So we serve essentially like the entire spectrum of what pharmaceutical companies would need. The only difference that we don't have a drug product. Right. But we have everything that kind of helps support getting those drug products to patients in need.

Chris Frew [00:03:37]:

I love that one way that I heard someone describe, I think it was your founder describe it. We're like a mid sized pharmaceutical med device company except we produce everybody else and develop everyone else's products. And I thought that was a really great way to a great visual.

Alexis Dechelette [00:03:52]:

Absolutely. That's exactly what it is. That's what we do and we love doing it.

Chris Frew [00:03:55]:

Yeah, that's great. So we're going to talk about your expansion in a minute, Alexis, but I want to just take a step back. So this is an important thing to think about from an ecosystem standpoint. And again as I mentioned, we're ecosystem nerds. We love, love supporting areas like Philadelphia. So you, you, you were at a large company, a large company went bankrupt and you and some folks said, hey, we're not going to go get another job, we're going to start a company.

Alexis Dechelette [00:04:21]:

Yeah, absolutely. So we saw the bankruptcy as kind of a. Some people, I mean, and understandably we see, see that as negative even. Right. So we saw that as an opportunity to kind of start something new. So along with two, two co founders. So Nick and Sean, they're both actually still at Kymanox. Nick is CTO and Sean is the director at Kymanox, as I am. Yeah. So we're okay. What do we do? Well, let's, let's start a consulting company. Let's try to help people, you know, keep moving projects forward. And that was in 2017. So we were kind of a local Philadelphia firm, 1012 people serving pharma clients, med device clients. And then in 2021, you know, Kymnaox was getting a growth investment. As part of that, you know, Neuma was added. So the company, sorry name was Neuma. The Neuma was added to Kymanox. And it was like a combination of skill sets, no overlap, really complementary, elevating the organization. And, and we are like three years later, later, like it's always been that way. We have a hub in Philly, a lot going on there. So that's. Yeah, that's really what happened. It was really exciting to go in a matter of a few months, like to local, 10 to 12 people Philadelphia firm, to like kind of a 300 people global, you know, provider. So it was great.

Chris Frew [00:05:42]:

And it sounds like the culture was aligned too. That's what made it so seamless to the culture. And. And I know you really focus very heavily on your clients and serving patients, and that's a big. So I'm sure that had to be a good part of. An important part of how well it went smoothly.

Alexis Dechelette [00:05:57]:

Absolutely. Yeah. The culture is like perfect match. And the goal really is to help clients and companies move forward. We want to add value and not just be there just because we are there and they need support. We want to be impactful, add value, move quick and really help because we understand that time is also of the essence. So we do quick, high quality work so that people can move forward. So. So a project well done is a project that added value and that's what we do every single time.

Chris Frew [00:06:27]:

Well, I just, I absolutely, I've really enjoyed getting to know you all and getting to know you personally. And I absolutely love this story. We like to refer to that as creative destruction. Right. When a company gets destroyed, all this creativity gets flourished. And now we have this amazing Philadelphia Story that is now part of this amazing Kymanox story.

Alexis Dechelette [00:06:48]:

Right.

Chris Frew [00:06:49]:

And. And you know, which is continuing to evolve. And that's what we're here talking about today, which I was excited to have you because the story keeps evolving and it keeps evolving with this focus on how to better serve your customers. And so can you tell us a little bit about the Philadelphia Hub and what's exciting that you all are doing and this expansion you're launching?

Alexis Dechelette [00:07:13]:

Yeah, absolutely. So the Philadelphia Hub is really. So when before, before that hub was established. Right. So Stephen Perry, our CEO and founder. So now, by the way, Kymanox is 20 years old. So a lot, a lot has happened. Right. There was a willingness to help clients do more than just what Kymanox was providing. Right. So. And what was required and kind of seen as a need for the people out there was to be able to test devices and combination products and also help select devices. There are a lot of platforms out there that people really, they don't know if they should go with a device A or a device B. So the ability to go in a lab and test it and when, when platform options are not, not available, have the ability to just design a new one from scratch. Right. So what we do in Philly is all of what I just mentioned. Right. So we can look at what's out there in terms of our devices to support drug delivery, for example. Right. And because we understand that when you're a small company, you probably do not have what it takes to take it custom right away. Right. So we can look at what's out there, test do head to head comparisons of devices, focus on specific problems and see if we can solve it that way. If we can't, then we go the full custom route. We can design from scratch. We have the ability to iterate designs here. We have a makerspace that allows us to do quick turnaround designs, check what works, reiterate and rapidly get to a mature design that can then be moved down the process.

Chris Frew [00:08:50]:

Yeah, that's fantastic. So the expansion, what does that do for your ability to deliver? What does that expand your reach and your ability to deliver more for your customers?

Alexis Dechelette [00:09:02]:

So the expansion actually allows us to move further down the development process. So what the expansion is all about is adding thousands of square feet of lab space primarily. And what that lab space will allow to do is grow our design verification side of the business. Right. So we already perform design verification in our current lab. We now will have more space, more equipment to help perform design verification, which is a critical step to move your projects through your products, through the regulatory approval or clearance process. But we will also now have the ability to do GMP manufacturing. And what that means is that instead of going to a CMO, do like an early technical transfer that, you know, just to build 50 or 100 devices. We will now be able to do that in house, internally do those built for either design verification or clinical studies or low volume commercial even prior to then transferring your product to like a high volume CMO. So that's a way to mitigate risk, to accelerate timeline and really get to valuable milestones for your company a lot quicker.

Expansion in philly to add thousands of square feet of lab space to grow their design verification side of the business. Allowing them to move more products through the regulatory approval or clearance process. This will also increase the ability to do GMP manufacturing onsite for design verification, clinical studies, or low volume commercial instead of doing a tech transfer to another CMO this allows for an accelerated timeline in product development. 

Chris Frew [00:10:18]:

That's great. And that's so important these days is how you can help a growing company mitigate risk. Right. In the funding climate we're in, in the investment climate we hear so much about, how are we de risking our growth?

Alexis Dechelette [00:10:35]:

Correct.

Chris Frew [00:10:35]:

And you know, it sounds like someone that can start with Kymanox as a partner in design development now you can actually help them delay that large lift of, you know, contract manufacturing and full scale, you know, production. And you, you can really again, they can stick with someone they know and you can push that out a little bit further.

Alexis Dechelette [00:10:57]:

Yeah, absolutely. So stick with someone they know, like you're saying, Chris. Right. But also something, stick with someone who knows the product the best. Right. So in that way you're not losing months kind of transferring knowledge on for example, like an assembly fixture that needs to be reproduced at the CMO and all that. Right. Ideally, as part of the Kymanox engagement, all of this is, is kind of done along the way. Right. So when we do early characterization testing, for example, everything is tailored towards what comes, you know, down the line. So fixtures designed for early characterization testing or test methods developed for characterization testing, they're always done with design verification in mind. They're always done with, you know, GMP assembly in mind so that you save time and money. You don't, you do not have to repeat steps that have, you know, that have been done already. Yeah, that's one way we can really help accelerate, you know, development and commercialization of products.

Chris Frew [00:11:54]:

Yeah. And are you predominantly working with like growth stage companies? You work a lot with pharma? Like what, what, you know, what, what do your clients typically look like?

Alexis Dechelette [00:12:03]:

It's actually a pretty good spread and blend of all of the above here. So we work with large pharmaceutical companies, we work with early startups, so like single founder startups, three, four, five, you know, startups like entering like their series A or B, you know, series A and B funding rounds. And we also work with research institutions out there as well, collaborate on that and med device manufacturers. Right. So pharma, Pharma is one, one aspect of the, of the, the ecosystem. Right. But we also have all those device manufacturers, Right. That makes those device platforms. So we also work with these clients. So it's essentially like the entire ecosystem comes to Kymanox.

Chris Frew [00:12:53]:

I like that, that should be a, that should be a shirt. The entire.

Alexis Dechelette [00:12:56]:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Chris Frew [00:12:58]:

That's kind of what we want, that's kind of what we want for BioBuzz too. The ecosystem comes through BioBuzz, but I, I, hopefully they come through BioBuzz to Kymanox.

Alexis Dechelette [00:13:05]:

Yeah, absolutely. That works. That works.

Chris Frew [00:13:07]:

I love that. Well, you know, the, the device space and actually the delivery space is really fascinating because that's really grown a lot and I think, you know, cell and gene therapy and some other fields are really looking at delivery as a, and also, you know, something to, you know, improve, you know, the patient experience and, and, you know, and, and overall adoption of medicine as well. Are you seeing a lot of uptick in that from, from your business?

Alexis Dechelette [00:13:37]:

Like in terms of new devices and new devices, new opportunities. Yeah, yeah, there is, there is, there is always a push for. So you have not only the new therapies coming on, right, that require like, I don't want to say unusual, but kind of different ways or different modalities of deliveries that, that may require custom custom devices. There is also a push or drive to two things, right? One, go away from like a syringe or a vial and to have a device. So that's kind of with the patient in mind, right? Like more like more adherence to, to your treatments and all that by using a device. And two, there is a way to beat the competition, right? If you have a better device that does more that look, you know, that looks better, maybe that's going to be the differentiation between going with, you know, drug, drug A, from that drug company A, sorry, company B. Right. So, when you have those long standing drugs, then one way to differentiate is really on the device side. So, so and that's where you need to go. Custom or at least customize existing devices.

Chris Frew [00:14:47]:

Yeah, yeah. You know, we've, I know we've introduced you to a couple of clients and one of the feedback that I heard too was, you know, from them working with you is that you help them avoid like months of like going down the wrong pathway. And it's, and, and the reason was because the feedback that I heard was man, they seem to know like five steps ahead of what we were even thinking about already. And I just, I wanted to bring that up because I thought that was so valuable feedback for us to hear as partners of yours that you know, how much real savings it is to work with people that do this all the time and have done this for 20 years.

Alexis Dechelette [00:15:27]:

Absolutely. And also, I mean, you know, sometimes you have people coming to us and they say, hey, I need a new device. Right? I need a new device. What I'm doing is really unique. It has to be novel. We need to, you know, reinvent everything, right. And then when you take a step back, right, you know, yes, maybe down the road you need a completely new device. Right. But maybe we can help you kind of define what you really need and let's see what's, you know, what's out there. Maybe there's something that suits your needs already that, that will help you move, you know, move your company along. And then once this is kind of already commercialized or revenue stream, then let's talk, you know, custom to even further differentiate or improve your patient experience. Right. So we try to make sure that we don't go to 0 to 60 right away. Right. Let's go to 0, 10, 20 and ramp up so that, you know that, make sure that you, you as a company can really take it and moving that forward.

Chris Frew [00:16:26]:

Yeah, yeah, that consultative approach I think is so important. You know, we hear that from clients as well all the time. How important is not just to deliver what they want, but to really consult on them from an expertise perspective.

Alexis Dechelette [00:16:39]:

Absolutely. And I mean like we've seen so many projects that we've, you know, we, we, we see mistakes. Right. That repeat themselves. Right. So we want to make sure that if there's an opportunity to not make that mistake, let's, let's make sure we don't make that mistake. Right. And that's, I think that's the value that we bring as an organization. I mean we have a lot of SMEs that have seen a lot of projects that were on the pharma side that were on the med device side. Most of us have been on both sides and really understand what needs to be driven forward and what is the value added element to a product.

Chris Frew [00:17:14]:

That's great. So Alexis, let me take a step. You mentioned something earlier that I want to talk to two things. One, the expansion that's coming live, well, that's live in Philadelphia really adds thousands of square feet of lab space. So now you can perform, you know, you know, you can help de risk companies as they're growing and you're expanding, you know, the services. But, but you mentioned something also that you're working with companies as large as one founder and helping them produce. Could you walk, unpack that a little bit? Because I think, and again, in this market when, when we're working with entrepreneurs who are, and we work with a lot of startups, a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, ourselves and, and getting a path to funding, path to market and everything. It is about, it's more challenging than ever before. And it sounds like if you're able to work with a single person or two or three founders and move a product forward, that's pretty amazing. So could you unpack that for us a little bit?

Alexis Dechelette [00:18:12]:

Yeah, absolutely. So this is really kind of, I mean we've seen more and more in the past, I don't know, five, 10 years kind of virtual companies kind of exploding. I mean, there are a lot of companies out there and what we bring to these organizations, right. Is okay, you have the idea you have as a founder, obviously, right. You have Your idea, you have your strategic advisors and all that that we actually also can support at Kymanox. But you're not going to hire like a regulatory, you know, full time regulatory person. You're not going to hire like a full time design engineer and all that, right. So we bring all those functions to you. We use our space because as a single founder company, you obviously do not have all the need to get an office, get a lab space. Right. All this, so all this is provided by us and that's how we help those, those hyper virtual companies. Right. By bringing the right skill set at the right time. Right. We have a pool of experts. So if you need five hours of a regulatory consultant, let's, you know, we'll get that to you. If you need a custom design or landscape assessment done, let's have our design engineers that again are experts in the space kind of tell you what's out there, what you can leverage or no, you really need to go custom. And then we can, you know, if you need some to do, have some testing performed, we have a lab space that supports this. If our project moves forward towards like a clinical study, we'll do that for you. We have the space to build devices that can then be, you know, sent to a study site. So yeah, so we are really kind of the extension of the team and really not doing more than what the company can take at the time. Right. So if you need five hours of a design assembly, you're going to get five hours of a design SME and that's, that's what you get. And then we'll move your project forward.

Chris Frew [00:20:03]:

That's amazing. And again, that's going back to that visual of like a whole pharma company, you know, at your fingertips, you know. Yeah, exactly.

Alexis Dechelette [00:20:10]:

Yeah. And it's a risk mitigation approach too, Right. That way you have to look to hire a design person. If in the end you find out, you find out that actually I'm not going to design a new device, right. That is a platform that works for me. Right. So it's a risk mitigation for you. It's also faster to it this way because again, like, like I said, right, we've, we've, we're experienced, we can be turned on right away. So you don't have to spend months and months and months to find the right hire. So we're ready to go.

Chris Frew [00:20:39]:

Yeah. And you're not losing knowledge, right? So the knowledge, it stays.

Alexis Dechelette [00:20:43]:

Yeah, correct. Yeah.

Chris Frew [00:20:44]:

In fact that's like built into your name Isn't it like that transfer, Is that right?

Alexis Dechelette [00:20:49]:

That's right. It is, yeah. Transfer, yeah, absolutely.

Chris Frew [00:20:53]:

So that, that just keeping the knowledge in you're, you know, think about how many type of vendors you move to and the, what the, what the gap is at time that they need to kind of get up to speed on your product and your process. If you, if you multiply that times 12 vendors, like, that's a tremendous amount of like time and energy and knowledge and sometimes, sometimes they don't quite catch in to the wrong vendor. You got to switch. Like that's a lot of weight.

Alexis Dechelette [00:21:16]:

Yeah. So, so as part of this process, right, so you don't have exactly what you're saying, Chris. You have to switch vendors every step of the way when you need to go from design to regulatory to, to quality or project management. And then it also allows you to build trust. Right. As the longer you engage with a person, the more trust you build and the better you work together. So, it's a win, win relationship that we provide there.

Chris Frew [00:21:42]:

Yeah, that's fantastic. I love that model. And especially in this climate, I mean, we're seeing, you know, we're seeing a demand for that. What, what kind of, when you talk to early stage company, what are the kind of criteria like that, like that people tend to kind of move in that path versus another. Is there any like signals or you know, you know, for, for an entrepreneur out there that's listening to this, like what, what are some of those criteria that might signal that that's the right way for them?

Alexis Dechelette [00:22:11]:

I think it's when you're like early, so you're still going through your funding rounds and all that and you need to show value, you know, every step of the way so early. And also I think when, when, when you feel like there is a lot ahead of you and that hey, I need a novel device or I need this and this, but I'm not sure if I need to go like that regulatory pathway or that regulatory pathway, then I mean, it's time to engage. Right. And so, I mean, it's really, really early, Chris. I mean, if you have an idea, we can help right out the gate because we have the infrastructure to help you right there, so you don't have to go through all of this.

Chris Frew [00:22:55]:

It's almost like you're like, almost like a startup factory or venture studio.

Alexis Dechelette [00:23:01]:

Yeah, pretty much.

Chris Frew [00:23:03]:

Yeah.

Alexis Dechelette [00:23:03]:

Yeah. Yeah, pretty much.

Chris Frew [00:23:04]:

Yeah. That's great. Well, I'm really excited about, you know, you know, the expansion, the opportunity because we work with a Lot of the local incubators in Philadelphia and we work with a lot of startups in Philadelphia and we know how, you know, I feel like there's this pent up innovation boom that's going to happen these past couple years. I feel like, like what I tell people, science hasn't stopped but commercialization has kind of been delayed. So I feel like there's a lot of pent up, really innovation that's ready to kind of explode over the next 24 months.

Alexis Dechelette [00:23:43]:

Absolutely.

Chris Frew [00:23:44]:

It sounds like you're poised for that.

Alexis Dechelette [00:23:46]:

We're ready for it. Yeah, we're ready for it. We added all these capabilities to support all these needs here, so we're ready for it. There is one bit also that I forgot to mention earlier. Right. We're not only adding more design verification capabilities or manufacturing capabilities. Right. We're also adding a usability studio to help us do human factors assessments. Right. So we can do that. We will be able to do not only design verification but also validation studies in that studio as well. So that will allow us to really complete the package here and make sure that your products are ready to move forward and be manufactured and launched.

Chris Frew [00:24:27]:

That's great. Alexis. What? Tell me a little bit as we wrap up here the last couple minutes. Tell me about the Philadelphia ecosystem. You know, you're obviously a product of it. Well, you're a product of France, but kind of hopefully adopted by Philadelphia right now. By now?

Alexis Dechelette [00:24:43]:

Pretty much, yeah, pretty much.

Chris Frew [00:24:45]:

What, how would you describe this ecosystem and kind of what has it meant to, you know, new you both from the Neuma and now Kymanox lens.

Alexis Dechelette [00:24:54]:

So what is, what is. I think, I don't know if it's unique, but what is a, a key attribute to Philadelphia really? It's. You have great research institutions, right? You have like top notch university labs and research institutions. We have very large farmers implanted in the Philly, New Jersey area. Right. So big pharmas. And there is a lot, I mean, traces back to the research institutions, right? You have a lot of startups and innovation happening here that's spinning off those academic centers or even kind of being attracted to what's happening here in the cell and gene therapy space. Right. So there is really a push to make Philly, well, competitive on the research side and the pharma space, but really kind of a cell engine and a new therapy hub. And this is, this is definitely happening. I mean, when you go to local meetings, when you work with local like trade associations, the LSPA for example, I mean, you can See what, what's happening. A lot of, a lot of startups in yeah new therapy, cell engine, you know, vaccine generation. I mean a lot going on. So that's, that's why Philadelphia is very, it's a very, very exciting, you know, area to, to do life sciences work.

Chris Frew [00:26:15]:

It's, it is, it's exciting and it's, and it, I feel like it's continuing to even get more exciting with developments like what, what we're talking about today. And you know, we've had what like Legend, you know, announced that they're expanding in Philly. Gamma Bio and Franklin spun out of pen with Jim Wilson's you know, new things and you this week Tolerance Bio announcing some funding. So even in an ecosystem, in an industry where there's, there's obviously it's a down market for a lot of people, but I feel like a little less in Philly than some other markets that you're seeing some really good. And I think it goes back to what I said before. There's still good science happening and there's still, and Philly is a place for good science and that's absolutely.

Alexis Dechelette [00:27:02]:

And I think I want to add on top of this. So yes, we have all those that, the research, those companies, those startups. But there is a sense of community also in the life sciences Philadelphia space. I mean when you go to events there is, yeah there is a sense they are wearing it together. You know, let's, let's move this forward together. And, and Philadelphia has, has that sense of purpose and community that you can feel in the life sciences ecosystem here. So which I think is very rewarding and motivating.

Chris Frew [00:27:33]:

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I tell people, because I traveled other ecosystems as well. I tell people that Philadelphia truly has this rising tide mentality and it's not just a slogan on their coffee mug that, that you know, it really kind of believes that people believe it and they collaborate and it does feel it. You can feel it in the community.

Alexis Dechelette [00:27:54]:

I totally, I agree. 100.

Chris Frew [00:27:57]:

Speaking of, speaking of feeling as we wrap up here, what does it mean for you? I mean think back to you and, and your partners Neuma back in 2017, you know, you know, what is being at this spot place now mean to you? Like being able to expand the operation and really kind of have the impact that you're having. I love, love to hear just kind of what this journey's been like and what it really means to you at this point.

Alexis Dechelette [00:28:19]:

It's actually hyper rewarding to be honest with you. I mean, when we started our small endeavor, like 2017, we know, you know, every month could be the end. Right. So. And that was. That was, yeah, seven years ago now. So it's super rewarding. We've grown the local presence. Right. We were 10, 12 Anuma. We now have more like 30 people in the Philadelphia office. So, you know, we're impacting more families here. We created jobs. So this is hyper rewarding. Right. We're beyond the, oh, I don't know if I'm going to make them next month. Right. We're like, when are we going to run out of space and when do we need to expand again? So this is. This is super exciting and very rewarding as well. So it's. Yeah, it's a sense. Yeah. Both excitement and content.

Chris Frew [00:29:13]:

Well, congratulations to you. I'm very happy for your success. I know that there's a lot of families in Philadelphia and there's a lot of patients that are very happy as well, but I think that's great sentiments. And as an entrepreneur myself who's growing a company, I know what the journey is like, and it's wonderful to see the expansion and the impact that you all are having now. We've enjoyed being your partner, and I can. I can speak firsthand that, you know, the. The clients that we share, you know, share the same sentiment of what it's like to work with you all. So very happy to have you on today to get this announcement out there to the Philadelphia community. You know, the. The homegrown Neuma. Now, Kymanox is. Is making even bigger impact on the innovation coming out of Philadelphia. So need any of anything we talked about today. Alexis is your guy to reach out to.

Alexis Dechelette [00:30:06]:

Absolutely. Available. Reach out. Wonderful.

Chris Frew [00:30:10]:

Well, thank you so much for today.

Alexis Dechelette [00:30:12]:

Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

Chris Frew [00:30:14]:

Absolutely. I'm sure we'll be seeing you around at some networking events. And if not again, please reach out to Alexis, just right up the road in King of Prussia. Thank you, everybody. I appreciate you all tuning in. Today's “What's the Buzz?!” And we'll be back again very soon with another special guest also coming out of Philadelphia. So stay tuned. All right, thank you all.