Companies seeking funding and potential investors will link up just over two months from now at an annual Orange County medical device industry forum.
Aliso Viejo-based OCTANe will hold its annual Medical Device and Investor Forum Oct. 27 and 28 at Hotel Irvine.
The event features what are known as “Launchpad” company presentations, or device makers pitching their companies to potential sources of funding. The presentations are scheduled for the first day of the event.
Several well-known Orange County-based medical device industry figures will make appearances at the forum.
James Mazzo, the newly installed global president of ophthalmology for Germany-based device maker Carl Zeiss Medtech AG, will chat with friend and colleague Michael Mussallem, longtime chief executive of Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp., during a first-day interview session.
Omar Ishrak, chief executive of Dublin, Ireland-based diversified device maker Medtronic PLC, and Brett Wall, who runs Medtronic’s Irvine-centered neurovascular business, are hosting a luncheon on the forum’s second day.
Other speakers include Dr. Harry Greenspun, managing director for Deloitte LP’s Center for Health Solutions in Washington, D.C., who will address digital transformation of healthcare, and Jeffrey Kimbell, president of Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates, who will provide an election update.
Panel discussion topics include leveraging big data and analytics for “patient-centric” healthcare; top pitfalls facing companies as they attempt to secure funding; and an update on regulatory and reimbursement issues.
Edwards Valve OK’d in Canada
Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said Health Canada approved its Edwards Sapien 3 less-invasive heart valve for treating patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis, which is a narrowing of the body’s main artery. The approval covers patients who are at high or greater risk with traditional open-heart surgical valve replacements.
Sapien 3, which is available in a variety of sizes, “has changed the paradigm for patients in need of heart valve replacement,” said Dr. John Webb, director of interventional cardiology and cardiac catheterization laboratories at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.
The Sapien 3 valve has been commercially available in Europe since 2014 and received Food and Drug Administration approval last year. Edwards said the device and others in the Sapien family have been used in more than 150,000 patients.
Terumo Closes Sequent Deal
Japan-based Terumo Corp. last month finalized its $280 million acquisition of Aliso Viejo-based Sequent Medical Corp.
Sequent makes an implant called Web that’s used to treat brain aneurysms. Terumo has said it acquired Sequent to expand its neurovascular product line.
Terumo also owns MicroVention Inc., a maker of stroke treatment devices that’s relocating from Tustin to Aliso Viejo.
Axonics Gets Conditional EU OK
European regulators gave Irvine-based Axonics Modulation Technologies Inc. magnetic resonance imaging conditional approval late last month for its device that treats urinary and fecal dysfunction.
Axonics’ Sacral Neuromodulation device is implanted, rechargeable, and modulates sacral nerve activity.
The device maker said in a news release that the approval now allows patients who have Axonics SNM implants to safely undergo head and neck MRI scans in certain environments.
It also said it recently received European regulatory approval for Axonics SNM and that a clinical study is under way and enrolling patients in England, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
Hoag Honored
Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine is one of 100 companies and organizations on industry publication Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work list for 2016. The program honors workplaces throughout the industry that “empower their employees to provide patients and customers with the best possible care.”
Hoag Orthopedic Institute, a joint venture between Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s Irvine campus and specialty doctors’ groups, is the only Orange County healthcare institution and one of eight in California on Modern Healthcare’s list.
Modern Healthcare said in a news release that it would reveal the ranked order of the companies and organizations in October during its Workplace of the Future conference in New Orleans.
Bits & Pieces
Mission Viejo-based Auxilio Inc. said it introduced new managed print services technology during the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management conference last week in San Diego. Auxilio offers print management services to help hospitals and other healthcare providers cut their dependence on paper records. … Anaheim-based ClearFlow Inc. introduced a new version of its PleuraFlow device for pediatric cardiothoracic surgery patients. PleuraFlow removes blood clots from patients’ chest tubes—clogged chest tubes can lead to retained blood around the heart and lungs.
