Interview with Julien Payen: Lattice Medical

Julien Payen is a Biomaterials Engineer who began his career with contributions to respiratory devices by working on nanofibers development for air filtration. Then he worked successively as R&D manager for a multinational company in protective devices and in the finance of innovative projects in medical devices. He founded Lattice Medical in late 2017 with two medical doctors and a plastic surgeon to bring an alternative to the breast reconstruction landscape with a 3D printed and bioabsorbable implant, MATTISSE. He successfully raised EUR 20 million with Lattice Medical, gathering a team of 25 engineers, PhDs and complete successful milestones such as ISO 13485:2016 certification, the establishment of a 3D printing farm production facility in a clean room to produce our devices and bringing their lead product MATTISSE, through clinical trials. Thanks to his impetus, he has enabled Lattice Medical to become a medical company developing several medical products (breast: MATTISSE, skin: RODIN) as well as medical-grade raw materials for 3D printing (LATTICE SERVICES). He has earned several awards such as Start-Up of the year by the Challenges magazine in France or apart of Medtech Innovator cohort 2024 or nominee of the prestigious Galien Prize in New York in 2023. Julien will be a speaker at our upcoming event focusing on 3D Biofabrication 3D Printing Breast Implants.

When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing?

Julien: I bought my first 3D printer in 2015 to develop in my garage, the first prototype of our MATTISSE implant. I was really excited by this technology, which allows you to model your ideas in real life, and quickly!

What inspired you to start your journey?

Julien: I have worked for 7 years in the finance of innovative projects meeting numerous CEOs and researchers and I knew from that point that I’d like to be an entrepreneur. Meeting my future co-founders (physicians) 10 years ago was a revelation for me. I felt at that time that I would have a great opportunity to create an innovative company with a meaningful impact for women. 

Who inspired you the most along this journey in 3D printing ?

Julien: My first inspiration came from a movie: the Fifth Element by Luc Besson. In this movie, they found the DNA of the heroine and her body was totally reconstructed, like 3D printing! I was thinking at that time, just imagine if we were able to do that for any organs, to cure any disease!

My second inspiration comes from my relatives (family, friends) who have faced breast cancer and the painful journey it was.

What motivates you the most for your work? 

Julien: Raising and managing a team. As a musician, I’d like to see, like a conductor of an orchestra, how we are able to gather people on a common project. Our team is the pillar of Lattice Medical, working in team spirit, sharing the same values, like a family to improve the patient’s life. This is why I get up every morning.

What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions? 

Julien: I think that the main challenge/obstacle of our work in MedTech Start-up is to find the best barycenter of 3 pillars:

  • Hiring/Managing the right people
  • Respect development planning & product development against regulations and standards
  • Seeking for the right amount of money/valuation with contingency plan to overcome some delays

Of course, regulations create obstacles but it’s in the interest of the patient to deliver the safest product with the best performance.

What do you think is (are) the biggest challenge(s) in 3D Printing/bio-printing? What do you think the potential solution(s) is (are)?

Julien: I think about two main challenges:

  • Producing 3D printed devices at a cost-effective manner with the best quality & reproducibility requirements
  • Facing regulatory improvements. For example, for those who want to print at a medical level: how to manage legal aspects, insurance aspects and regulatory class of the device (Medical Device, MTI)?

If you are granted three wishes by a higher being, what would they be? 

Julien:

  • To travel faster than light to discover universe and understand our deepest origins 🚀👩‍🚀
  • To be a music player or composer in a famous hard rock band such as AC/DC 🎸

What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advice you heard should they ignore? 

Julien:

  • Good advice:

Too much advice to give! Here are a few I think are important: strengthen your network, talk with people in “real life”, not by phone. Always keep your feet on the ground by thinking further on each decision you take. Try to balance your family/friend’s life, your work and your leisure, to make sure you’ll last as long as in a marathon. Life can be a sprint, but what I’ve learned is that you must manage your time and stick with it! And a last one, everyone has ideas, but the execution of the idea is the most important, it must be real and that’s the hardest part.

  • Bad advice:

I’ve been advised to raise equity as much as possible, but I think it’s wrong. Equity investment must be well calculated to produce the right leverage effect and avoid putting the company into disproportionate valuations that will make continuity difficult. The best money is sales.

Someone told me that we must work hard on the e-reputation with social networks, it is partially true, but we must work hard on executing our mission, our ideas!

What’s your favorite book you read this year and why? Alternatively, what’s your favorite book of all times you read and why?

Julien: Best book read this year: “AtomKa” written by a French thriller author, Franck Thilliez.

Two of my favorite books of all time:

  • Foundation” by Isaac Asimov because the story through different eras and millennia is incredibly consistent and it is the base of so much sci-fi book & movies today (such as StarWars)
  • A comic called “Universal War One” by a French author Denis Bajram. For me this is the best story/scenario for a book, relating time travel and finding a solution to the paradox of time travel in the past! I even wonder why this book is not already translated into a movie!

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