The OneMedPlace finance conference for emerging med tech companies, the OneMedForum, will be held January 13-14 in San Francisco. Click here to learn more.
Our featured panelists and speakers will be recognized experts that can offer insights and a unique perspective on their respective area of expertise. Each panel will be focus on disrupters and drivers; companies will exhibit after each discussion.
Orthopedics and Spine: During the last 10 years venture investment in orthopedic start-ups has been on the rise. Venture investors have primarily been focused on the spine and to a lesser extent on sports medicine, joint reconstruction and fracture repair. Many new technologies have been introduced and many more are in development. This panel will include a physician, investor, CEO and business development executive. Join them as they explore the promise of tomorrow’s technologies and the challenges of bringing a product to market in this highly regulated industry.
Neurostimulation: The field of neurostimulation, a form of therapy in which a low-voltage electrical current is used to treat medical conditions affecting different parts of the central nervous system, has grown dramatically in recent years. The devices on the market and currently in development treat a range of indications, including chronic pain, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, hearing loss and depression. These devices are implanted in the body and are used to stimulate different parts of the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, sacral nerves, vagus nerve and deeper structures of the brain. This panel will look at the newest companies and their products. It will explore the implications of the current market environment on the high costs and long development timelines that characterize this industry and will explore how a neurostim startup should navigate the precommercial development period to guarantee returns for both management and investors.
Cardiology: With the lackluster performance of the DES Stent market in recent years, many analysts are looking for the next big thing in cardiology. If history is any guide to the future, looking at the activities of small innovative companies could be very fruitful. While several are looking to develop next generation products in the stent world, there is a lot of other activity in AF ablation, drug eluting balloons, valve procedures, and congestive heart failure to name just a few. This panel includes a world famous cardiologist, a business development executive, and CEOs of two exciting next generation cardiology companies. Join them for a look at cardiology’s next generation products.
Urology & Sexual Health: This panel will look at the expanding area of sexual health and medicine as well as innovations in Urology. Included in this session will be a look at prostate cancer, new cases of which are expected to exceed 250,000 men in the US. And new advances such as focal therapy (the male lumpectomy) which offers hope for this area. Additionally, 2008 was the 10 year anniversary of a failed heart drug called sildenafil (Viagra), this panel will look at the evolving fields of sexual health and the investment opportunities in the growing field of devices and services for for female related disorders.
Surgery: Surgical advances, such as endoscopic surgery have improved health care efficiency, enhanced quality of care and decreased overall expense. Patients have benefited of advanced minimally invasive surgery (MIS) compared to traditional open surgery. Hospital stays are shorter postoperative pain is less and patients are able to return to work sooner. At the same time, outpatient clinics are challenging the role of hospital and increasingly sophisticated surgical techniques allow for greater increase in day surgery procedures which offer timely treatment, with less incidence of hospital acquired infections and earlier return to day-to-day activities. This panel of business development executives, VC’s and physicians will explore the larger trends and offer their perspective as to where the greatest opportunities for investors will be found in this area.
Wound Care: The market for wound care products is enormous, yet in the past start-ups approaching venture capitalists in search of funding for a chronic wound therapy have often been met with skepticism. This is because so many VCs have been scarred by past failures in this industry. But things could be changing. Spurred by Kinetic Concepts’ huge success in negative pressure wound therapy, a number of new startups have begun to work anew on advanced therapies for chronic wounds, pressure ulcers and non-healing surgical wounds. Listen in on a panel of wound care experts as they explore patient needs, the next generation products being developed to address these needs and the business development plans of the largest players in this market.
Diagnostics: While investors once shunned diagnostics as an investment area, advances in molecular biology and other fields now make it possible to catch disease sooner, when it’s more treatable and point patients to the optimal therapy-information that’s just as useful as a new drug or medical device, some investors now argue. This panel explores the changing world of diagnostics and brings together a CEO, an executive from a large diagnostic consolidator, a doctor and venture capitalist. This panel will explore the business models that have made diagnostics a hot area for investors in the know and will discuss the new technologies coming to market and the challenges startups face in commercialization of these game changing new products.
Health Information: Long regarded as one of the greatest opportunities in cost savings to the healthcare system the results haven’t materialized. Yet, the increased capacities of telemedicine and remote monitoring offer hope for cost reductions, and profits for investors in this rapidly evolving space. This panel will explore some of the major opportunities, electronic medical records, disease management and the “medical home.” It will look at what role the Internet will create new opportunities to increase care and reduce cost. This panel will include representation from a leading technology company committed to this space along with Venture Capitalists and the perspective of the average physician, without whose acceptance, the promise of technology will remain unrealized.