TechBirmingham thrives through its immensely talented and diverse group of member companies. Meet our Member Companies is an ongoing Q&A series highlighting this group of movers, shakers and makers in B’ham’s tech industry.

Meet Patrick Hymel, CEO of MedSnap. He is originally from New Orleans and has lived in Birmingham the last 15 years. Read on to get to know more about MedSnap and the great things they are doing in Birmingham and beyond.

Hi Patrick! Let’s get started — Tell us more about MedSnap.

MedSnap works globally with pharmaceutical companies to identify, track and “fingerprint” counterfeit pills – protecting their supply chain and customers. Counterfeit medications cost pharma at least $75 Billion per year globally. Our patented computer vision technology uses the iPhone camera to authenticate tablets and capsules in a “Snap” of the camera. We use the aggregate data to identify clusters of counterfeits that are visually related. This process allows customers and their regulatory partners to quickly authenticate medications in the field, assess the scope of the criminal operations they target, prioritize investigations, and more effectively utilize security and law enforcement resources.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about your field?

Because our analytical services utilize a smartphone app for data collection and field authentication, during the sales process we have to work to get around customer perception that apps are cheap or free. (We are neither.)

What exciting news or product/service announcements does your company have on the horizon?

By the end of 2015 we’re hopeful that MedSnap’s services will be in active use on 6 continents.

How do you feel about B’ham’s tech scene?

We’re bullish. The major strength is Innovation Depot and the successful alumni from the facility who remain active in the area. Biggest challenge is convincing others outside the region of how much potential there is here – but that’s changing.

Anything else about you or your company you want us to share?

We all feel lucky to work on hard, meaningful problems with colleagues as talented and diverse as the MedSnap team.

Thanks so much for sharing, Patrick! 

Follow MedSnap on social media here:

facebook.com/medsnap
Twitter: @MedSnap
www.medsnap.com

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