Medtech Talk

Ryan Egeland, senior director, business development & licensing at Medtronic, is searching for tech and start-ups that bolster the Medtech giant’s surgical innovations group.

Kirk Nielsen’s path to Versant passed through thoughts of medical school, a short stint in the NHL, and a span at Medtronic. Today, Nielsen represents the global VC’s interests in Medtech, serving as part of a new generation of partners taking over from the VC giant’s founders.

Trod Founder and CEO Andre Faure tells the tale of Trod, a low-capital-burning start-up focused on introducing a next-generation of ablation tools to treat the prostate and other soft tissue.

You can’t be involved in as many successful start-ups as Tom Ressemann and not walk away with great lessons and valuable experiences. The former Entellus founder and CEO examines the wins and challenges and explains how they’re guiding his hand at Amphora Medical.

Zeshan Muhammedi thinks he and his co-founders of FundRx have identified some “misalignments” in funding Medtechs. The solution may be FundRx, a new breed of venture capital firm bringing LPs, KOLs, and entrepreneurs on the same page.

Long ago, Tony Arnold wondered how he might find an opening in Medtech. Today, he’s leading one of the sector’s most novel start-ups, SetPoint Medical, which is using the nervous system to ease inflammation.

Lisa Wipperman Heine, COO of Mitralign, says the FDA is making quicker work of review times. But the same might not be said for other countries where Medtechs once had a faster time to market. In this interview at the offices of Fox Rothschild in Minneapolis, the Medtech veteran lays out Mitralign’s success with the agency’s Early Feasibility program.

Steve Clark, senior vice president at Optum Life Sciences, says healthcare rests in the “nascent” stages of questioning effectiveness of medical tech. Successful start-ups will find the right answers to those questions.

Jerry Harrison, rock star turned investor, joined with former Wall Streeter Brian A. Smith to create Red Crow to build a platform for healthcare start-ups to tap the “crowd” as a new source of capital.

Medtech Conference co-chair Stacy Enxing Seng, after succeeding at both start-ups and corporates, shares her enthusiasm for her new role as venture partner at Lightstone Ventures.

Medtech Conference co-chair Kevin Hykes revisits his days at Visiogen and Cameron Health, explaining how those successful outcomes help guide his hand on Metavention’s tiller.

Last month, a surgeon performed ophthalmology’s first robot-assisted surgery – a membrane peel. Marc de Smet, chief medical officer of Preceyes, a Dutch start-up, shares the company’s history and plans for the future.

Backed by nearly $30 million from the Department of Defense, BrainScope created a device to make concussion diagnosis more certain. Hear what’s next for the Medtech start-up.

Ashley McEvoy, Company Group Chairman, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care Companies, says the new force could pursue M&A in future expansion. Hear the details of the deal.

Rox Medical CEO Rodney Brenneman says he’s never had a tougher time raising capital. But the deed is done, and Rox is ready to move forward into the promising hypertension area.

Chen Yu, MD, managing director of Vivo Capital, has built a career finding the right deals at the right time in the US and China. Hear what US companies can do to take advantage of potential Pan Pacific opportunities.

Data guru Jon Norris, managing director at Silicon Valley Bank, reviews his first-half numbers for ophthalmology and life sciences. Norris’ first-half numbers for Medtech start-ups show some surprising sources of strength for the sector.

ReVision Optics built it – a corneal inlay capable of correcting presbyopia. The FDA approved it sooner than expected. Now the company needs to build it into a successful private-pay business.

Meet the newest Master of the Industry. Jim Mazzo, who has led divisions, spin-outs, and start-ups, now leads what looks to be a new leader in ophthalmology. Hear how Mazzo views this new opportunity for Zeiss and himself.

Over two decades ago, Mark Humayun – who will co-chair our upcoming OIS@ASRS meeting in San Francisco – helped launch a “moonshot” that would eventually restore vision for retinitis pigmentosa patients. In this podcast we discuss what drives him and what’s next for ophthalmology.

Cartiva secured an historic win when the FDA approved its synthetic cartilage. CEO Tim Patrick explains what it took to get the approval and how the company will sell going forward.

Eric Timko, the former CEO of Blue Belt, shares how the company used MAKO’s wake to build a market for its surgical robot and sell the business to Smith & Nephew. Timko explains the company’s fast-follower strategy and shares what he’s looking to do next.

The board at Ulthera, an aesthetics device company, faced an attractive dilemma. Take the company public? Or accept a lucrative buyout? Hear from the CEO how the company’s culture and approach led to that favorable outcome.

Gilde Healthcare Partner Geoff Pardo shares how the firm will invest its new $250 million in health care companies, including Medtech.