Medtech Talk

Twenty years ago, Maria Sainz faced an unusual fork in her career road. She chose wisely, building an esteemed career in Medtech that included senior leadership at Guidant and CEO posts at three Medtech start-ups. In this Medtech Talk Podcast, Sainz recounts the magic of Guidant, the merger with Boston Scientific, and her rewarding – and sometimes challenging – move into being a Medtech start-up CEO. She also talks about her current company’s post-approval trial strategy.

Scott Whitaker, the CEO of AdvaMed, has worked in DC for close to two decades. So naturally, we  asked him for his take on what the outcome of the midterm elections means for Medtech. Does it improve chances for the repeal of the Medical Device tax? We also talked about what AdvaMed is doing to entice smaller medtechs to join.

Jim Dillon, president and CEO of Renal Guard, talks about the company’s decision to create Reprieve Cardiovascular, a start-up focusing on heart failure. Reprieve raised $7 million from outside investors, including Abiomed, and counts Serial Entrepreneur Howard Levin as chief medical officer.

Endotronix CEO Harry Rowland, PhD, co-founded the heart sensor company 11 years ago and assumed the CEO role in 2012. Over that span, the company has raised more than $100 million from VCs, found regulatory success in Europe, and now is moving toward seeking approval in the US. What lessons has the first-time CEO learned running a start-up? How has Endotronix managed discouraging news in its space? And, in the past, how often has he asked himself, is this is going to work?

Mano Iyer’s unorthodox path to Medtech leadership led him to Europe where he co-founded a company, joined top VC firm Sofinnova, and founded ReCor Medical to test the use of renal denervation to treat hypertension. A tumultuous decade later, the company is now part of a new player in Medtech – Otsuka. What does this mean for ReCor, Iyer, and Otsuka?

Mick Farrell’s father questioned his son’s double degree from MIT when he didn’t immediately see the opportunity facing the sleep apnea company. But the younger Farrell quickly came around and helped build ResMed into a $15 billion company, with the last five years at the helm as CEO. Today, however, Farrell has ResMed beginning to take a very different path, migrating away from pure medical device sales and into selling software and other tech services to physicians.

In this dual podcast, we talk with leaders from the American Heart Association, Philips, UPMC, and Aphelion Capital about Cardeation Capital, a new venture fund aimed at funding start-ups in the digital health and medtech fields. How did the four entities join forces? What can they offer start-ups looking to disrupt healthcare? For more information go to aphelioncapital.net. You can also learn more about Aphelion Capital, the firm managing the fund, in this Medtech Talk Podcast.

MedCrypt CEO Mike Kijewski is playing a long game. At the moment, he recognizes Medtech execs aren’t placing a high priority on cybersecurity of their devices. But as technology becomes more advanced – and hospitals grow more wary – he expects demand will grow. The time is coming for Medtech to take a cue from the iPhone, he says.

Medtech start-ups need more firms like Aphelion Capital, investors willing to wager as little as $200,000 to get a promising idea going. Managing Partner Ned Scheetz discusses the firm’s origins, name, and plans going forward. This is the first of a two-episode package highlighting a unique joint effort between Aphelion and other co-creators of Cardeation Capital.

Under CEO Kevin Hykes, Relievant Medsystems is racking up some wins. The company closed on a $58 million Series E round last month and this week announced the first commercial application of its Intraspect pain-relief procedure. In this podcast, Hykes doles out some valuable career advice for wanna be CEOs and talks about the technology that could turn Relievant into a Medtech powerhouse.