CONFERENCE AGENDA

Join David Cassak, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the MedTech Strategist, as he interviews Andrew Cleeland and Paul Yock, CEO of the Fogarty Institute of Innovation and founder of Stanford’s Byers Center for Biodesign, respectively. Their two organizations are forming a major new affiliation to help educate and train the next generation of medical device innovators, entrepreneurs and policymakers. Learn about the new programs to reignite medtech innovation, create the next generation of leaders, and identify the policy changes needed to solve the many shortcomings of today’s healthcare system.

Getting funding for a new medical device company has become increasingly difficult. An ever-shrinking pool of investors interested in early-stage life sciences investing, more stringent capital requirements due to prolonged regulatory and reimbursement timelines, and the need for true sales traction to garner the attention of potential corporate acquirers have all become hallmarks of the current financing environment. How are investors adapting their financing strategies and business models to accommodate these realities and positioning themselves for long-term success? Join a panel of medtech investors as they discuss their approaches to investing in these changing times.

Funding Strategies for Entrepreneurs
Finding capital today is difficult regardless of the stage of the company. This panel entrepreneurs and CEOs will share their experiences in the search for capital. Learn about the types of deals that are happening today and the requirements to be seriously considered for investment. Panelists will discuss methods and strategies used by today’s leading companies to find capital and the changing areas of investor interest.

The Women From Guidant Corporation
Guidant Corporation jumped into existence in a 1994 spin-off IPO from Eli Lilly and was acquired by BSC in a spectacular $27.2 billion deal in 2006. In its short 12-year life as a public company it transformed interventional cardiology and along the way created some great leaders, many of them who are women. We take a look back at the women who grew at Guidant to see how and where they continue to lead in the medtech industry today.

University Licensing Strategies
You are a business person and you have built a solid relationship with a doctor who works at University Hospital. You both are planning on starting a new company together but first you need to figure out the University Hospital’s IP ownership and conflict of interest rules. How do you go about extracting a valuable idea from the University and how do you navigate the conflict of interest rules? Join this panel as we explore the world of university licensing.

AI in Medtech
The adoption of artificial intelligence in healthcare is on the rise. This panel will take a closer look at how AI is solving problems in healthcare today. Additionally, it will discuss what’s on the horizon for the healthcare industry in the next five years. Join this panel of AI healthcare CEOs as they reveal how their companies are changing the world of healthcare.

China Funding Strategies 
During the last several years China’s investment interest in U.S. Medtech has grown significantly. These transactions take many forms—loans, preferred stock, license arrangements, and joint ventures. Join a panel of experienced CEOs as they describe transactions they have completed with Chinese investors. Learn how these transactions are structured, how companies overcome restrictions on outbound investments, and the factors that draw Chinese investors to the U.S. and U.S. entrepreneurs to China.

FDA Panel: Human Factors Considerations when Designing and Developing Medical Devices
Manufacturers of medical devices, combination products, and in vitro diagnostics cannot afford to ignore human factors and usability in the development of their devices. The FDA, MHRA, and the new EU MDR have made it clear that manufacturers must reduce the risk associated with the use of their products. Through case study examples of high risk products, including a total artificial heart (TAH) and robotic surgical tools, panelists will describe a step-by-step approach to implementing human factors within the design process during the early development process, leading to significant savings of both time and money.

Deerfield Funds NXT Biomedical Incubator
Deerfield Management and Stan Rowe announced the creation of a next generation therapeutic device incubator, NXT Biomedical, which expects to invest up to $25 million in cutting edge technologies over the next 5 years. Deerfield has allotted up to an additional $250 million for the formation and development of five to eight startup companies that emerge from the incubator. Join David Cassak, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the MedTech Strategist, as he interviews Steve Hochberg and Stan Rowe about the future of medtech innovation and the opportunities and impediments that face investors and entrepreneurs as they develop and commercialize advanced medical technologies.

Big Medtech’s Evolving Business Development Strategies
The medtech consolidators have a challenge — they need to introduce important new products to grow their business, but internal innovation is both expensive and unpredictable. As a result they are increasingly looking externally to fill their pipelines. Companies that develop these products are well-positioned to be rewarded, but they need to understand what the consolidators are looking for. More than ever, they are turning to novel deal structures that can benefit both buyer and seller. Join a panel of business development executives to explore these issues.

Building a Solid IP Portfolio
Developing the world’s best medical technology should be enough, but you’re also expected to both patent and defend it within a shrinking budget. Join a panel of medical technology experts, including a successful serial entrepreneur and experienced in-house and outside patent counsel as they discuss how to build value into an IP portfolio while managing costs in today’s challenging medtech environment. The panel will discuss successful strategies for preparing and prosecuting patent applications inside and outside the U.S. as well as facing the patents of competitors in the most cost-effective ways possible.

Join this lunchtime panel to hear the Millipede Story, including the important new technology they developed and the transactions they entered into with BSC.

Finding SmartMoney Investors
If you are raising money at any stage of development, you already know how time consuming and challenging it is. Join this panel to learn a methodical, step-by-step process that will accelerate your fundraising and attract investors that bring more than just cash to your deal. Learn how to build a pitch deck that will tell the right story and learn how to target investors who will appreciate the importance of your innovation.

The Rise of the Robot in Modern Medicine
This has been a big year in medtech for the robot. In September 2018, Medtronic announced it would acquire Mazor for $1.7 billion and in February 2019, JNJ announced it would acquire Auris. In the case of Auris the purchase price was $3.4 billion in cash plus milestone payments. It seems that robotic surgery is ever more important to the healthcare system. We have invited a group of CEOs to talk about the importance of robotics in modern healthcare and to discuss the next generation of products now in development.

Foreign Investments: How CFIUS Will Affect Medtech
New powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) call for a wide-ranging discussion on how medtech companies will be affected. We will summarize CFIUS’s new statutory authorities, the newly effective pilot program implementing certain selected new CFIUS powers, and the development of the new regulations over the next year and beyond. Also to be provided is an overview of “critical technologies”—those of interest as designated by CFIUS. Join us as we discuss when and how startups and venture funds are electing to take practical steps to limit or allocate CFIUS risk, and when and how those investors and companies are electing to file with CFIUS.

IPOs and Mergers
M&A activity in the medtech sector continues at a solid pace. Medtech consolidators have been busy exercising buyout options they put in place from prior years, while a growing number of medtech companies have completed mergers on the eve of regulatory approval or soon after launching their products in the U.S. On the IPO front, a substantial number of companies have filed for IPOs and an impressive number of companies have completed IPOs during the last few years. For medtech companies with growing sales, it seems as though the window for IPOs is still wide open. Against this backdrop, our panel will explore recent M&A and IPO transactions with the goal of understanding the requirements to successfully complete these transactions.

Big Medtech Spinouts
It is harder than ever for the large medtech consolidators to internally develop next-generation technologies. Wall Street profit pressures, difficulty in predicting the next big innovation, and FDA and Reimbursement hurdles make internal new product development a difficult task for big medtech. As a result, many of the large medtech consolidators are creating build-to-buy enterprises. These companies find a new product of interest, create an independent company, and then fund a development program with a right to buy the resulting product. Join a panel of CEOs as they describe these programs and the implications for the future of the medtech industry.

Building a Reimbursement Plan
Previously, a generation of companies found huge success by bringing less invasive solutions to address each of the major markets in healthcare. Today, less invasive solutions are just not enough. CEOs must understand that product adoption requires that companies develop products that drive quality up at the right cost. Accelerating that adoption of important, new, yet unreimbursed medical devices requires a company to test their devices, define and measure outcomes, clarify the concept of value and explore paths to reimbursement. Join this panel to understand the puzzle of reimbursement and what it takes to get providers to adopt your product solutions.

Four early-stage medtech companies selected from over 800 applications will present their pitches to a panel of judges. The judges will evaluate the presentations and provide feedback to each company. Ultimately, the audience votes for the winner of the $25K MedTech Innovator 2019 Value Award. The winner will also be profiled in an upcoming issue of The MedTech Strategist.

Join Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for wine tasting after the conference. We will be sampling wines from various wineries, with venture capitalists serving as your sommeliers for the event. This is your chance to try some great wine and learn a little bit more about what each of our local venture firms is looking for in its next deal. It’s a great pairing—wine with a venture capital twist.