Orange County is a hub for medical device makers, and it’s set to play host to 2,000 industry officials and 10,000 attendees this week at the Medical Design & Manufacturing West 2001 trade show in Anaheim.
The show is set to run today through Wednesday at the newly remodeled Anaheim Convention Center. Organizers tout the show as the largest medical original equipment manufacturer confab, with 1,600 exhibitors. The show was held in Anaheim last year, even as the convention center was under redevelopment.
“Orange County and San Diego are hotbeds for life science and medical device industry,” said Mary Gordon, a conference manager.
Attendees, Gordon said, are primarily designers and developers of medical devices. Exhibitors are set to include Abbott Laboratories Inc., Becton Dickinson & Co., Eastman Chemical Co., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Motorola Inc. and Nikon Inc.
OC companies set to be on hand include: Irvine-based Advanced Sterilization Products, a Johnson & Johnson unit: Horizon Medical Inc., the Santa Ana device contract manufacturer; Gish Biomedical Inc., an Irvine-based maker of disposable medical devices; and Viking Rubber Products Inc., a Brea company that does some medical device work.
The Food and Drug Administration also is set to have a “heavy, heavy” presence during Medical Design & Manufacturing West, according to Gordon. Fourteen FDA representatives, including 13 from its Washington, D.C. office, are scheduled to speak at the event. “All About FDA,Hot Issues and New Resources” is scheduled to take up two sessions on Monday.
Covered topics include an overview of the FDA’s 510(k) pre-market approval applications and information from the agency’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Other FDA-related sessions during the three days include quality systems and biocompatibility issues.
This year, a new program addition is the Medical Device Management Forum, an educational event that runs concurrent to the conference. Gordon said the forum is designed for “emerging managers,” including chief executives of mid-sized device companies.
Forum topics include outsourcing, quality systems, giving managers skills to work in regulated environments, electronic business and a lunch that will give attendees tips on how to raise money. Event sponsors include the Life Science Industry Council, which has an office in Irvine, and AdvaMed, also called the Advanced Medical Technology Association. n
