Scientists at University of California, Irvine, get a chance to show off their biomedical devices to entrepreneurs and potential investors this week.
Seven products up for consideration include a non-invasive optical biopsy device for early detection of cancerous or abnormal cells; a cochlear implant sound chip based on wireless phone technology that improves the ability to understand speech and music; a high-speed human cell analysis device; a non-invasive dental testing instrument; a stent-sizing instrument for cardiologists; bioengineered nerve tissue; and a “lab-on-a-chip,” which could be used for efficient drug delivery to a diseased site.
The devices are being introduced at OCTANe’s “Meet the Researcher” series Tuesday at UCI’s Beckman Center.
OCTANe, short for Orange County Technology Action Network, is made up of technology and biomedical executives, venture capitalists, private investors and academic leaders from UCI and other universities.
“Translating technology and working with the biomedical device community of Orange County has been a priority for our program from the outset in 1999,”
said Steven George, chairman of UCI’s biomedical engineering department, in a release.
UCI’s extension arm also is involved with the event. Nancy Patterson, a consultant for the Alfred E. Mann Institute and MedFocus Fund, an Irvine-based medical device venture capital fund, is set to moderate the program.
Then on Friday, the UCI Graduate School of Management’s Healthcare and BioPharma Student Association will host a conference on globalization and the medical device industry. The event also is set for the Beckman Center.
Organizers said the conference’s topics include global competition strategy, target markets and pricing, launching new products outside the U.S., effects of global headquarters, and regulatory processes here and abroad.
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Edwards Lifesciences’ Mussallem, left, and Advanced Optics’ Mazzo: keynote speakers at UCI globalization event |
The conference landed a pair of high-profile OC device bosses as keynote speakers: Michael Mussallem, chief executive of Irvine-based heart valve maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp., and James Mazzo, chief executive of Advanced Medical Optics Inc., a Santa Ana eye surgery and contact lens care maker.
Panelists include Raymond Cohen, chief executive of Cardiac Science Inc., an Irvine heart defibrillator maker; Kenneth Charhut, chief of Orqis Medical Corp., a Lake Forest cardiovascular device company; and Jane Rady, Advanced Medical Optics’ corporate vice president of strategy and technology.
Lifesavers
Cardiac Science, meanwhile, landed a couple of new clients late last month.
The device maker entered into a deal with Airgas Safety Inc., a division of Radnor, Pa.-based Airgas Inc., one of the largest safety product distributors in the U.S.
The deal calls for Cardiac Science to provide its Powerheart defibrillators, training and program management services to Airgas Safety’s industrial customers.
Cardiac Science also inked pacts to sell its Powerheart G3 devices to the Nevada cities of Reno and Sparks, along with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff’s department and the cities used federal grants to buy 86 defibrillators.
The company said that the sheriff’s department planned to put the defibrillators in its jail and cars. Reno plans to install the devices at its city hall and library, among other sites.
Cardiac Science’s defibrillators deliver tiny shocks to the hearts of people suffering from heart attacks.
The company has centered much of its efforts on what’s called public access defibrillation, or getting their devices into places such as parks, police agencies and shopping malls.
Bits and Pieces:
Speaking of Edwards Lifesciences’ Mussallem, he’s participating in a forum on emerging medical technologies this week up at Stanford University. The California Healthcare Institute, a La Jolla-based trade group that Mussallem chairs, is presenting the discussion … I-Flow Corp., Lake Forest, said a study showed that its On-Q PainBuster pain relief system effectively treated pain while reducing the need for narcotics following radical prostatectomy surgery performed with minimally invasive robots. The study included 300 patients and took place in Alabama. Separately, I-Flow also presented results from a study conducted on gynecologic oncology during the Armed Forces district meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Data showed that 100 women who underwent surgery had lower pain scores with I-Flow’s system … TherOx Inc., Irvine, released data last month showing that its device to treat heart attacks reduced the size of the attack when used with angioplasty and stenting. TherOx’s DownStream system dissolves oxygen in saline to create a solution that is mixed with a patient’s blood and delivered to oxygen-deprived areas following a heart attack … The American Heart Association recognized Placentia-Linda Hospital for participating in the organization’s “Get With the Guidelines” program to curb coronary disease … The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ pharmacy, home care and infusion suite program awarded a three-year accreditation to the Tustin branch of Critical Care Systems Inc., a New Hampshire-based specialty infusion drug company.
