OCTANe, an Orange County-based non-profit life sciences and technology accelerator organization, has announced the agenda for its 11th Annual Medical Device & Investor Forum (MDIF), which will be held on October 27-28, 2016, in Irvine, California. The speakers for this year’s MDIF include Mike Mussallem, Chairman and CEO of Edwards Lifesciences; Tom Burns, President and CEO of Glaukos; Jim Mazzo, Global President of Ophthalmology, Carl Zeiss Meditec; Brett Wall, Sr. VP and President of Brain Therapies, Medtronic; and Geoff Martha, EVP and Group President of Restorative Therapies Group, Medtronic. A number of companies will also present new strategies for maximizing funding options. The forum is expected to attract over 600 attendees.
According to its website, OCTANe fosters a successful ecosystem that accelerates the flow of ideas, talent, and capital by creating an infrastructure where entrepreneurs, academia, company executives, and business advisors build and grow sustainable organizations. OCTANe’s members include Orange County technology executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, academicians, and strategic advisors, all working together to fuel innovation in the OC. OCTANe has helped more than 800 companies via the LaunchPad™ Small Business Development Center (SBDC) accelerator. LaunchPad™-certified companies are reported to have received more than $1.7 billion in investment and equity exits.
The agenda for this year’s MDIF includes a keynote address by Dr. Wallace Walrod, Chief Economic Adviser of the Orange County Business Council, and Herm Cukier, Sr. VP of Eye Care, Allergan, on Allergan’s economic impact on Orange County. A panel moderated by Clay Wilemon, CEO and Chief Strategy Officer of DevicePharm, will discuss using big data to improve patient outcomes and reimbursement. Sabing Lee, a Partner at Knobbe Martens, will host a panel discussing medical device security. And, U.S. Congresswoman Mimi Walters will address the importance of innovation in Orange County, and healthcare legislative and policy expert Jeff Kimbell will provide his views on the upcoming elections from a Washington D.C. perspective.
OCTANe annually welcomes more than 7,000 people to its programs and events, and more than 2,000 business leaders throughout the Orange County region are OCTANe members. Bill Carpou, CEO of OCTANe, describes the MDIF as “the most important event of the year when it comes to medical technology and Orange County.”
