AdvaMed2011: The MedTech Conference Opens with Dialogues on Finance, Competitiveness, Harmonization, Entrepreneurship, Compliance and Health Reform One Year Later

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AdvaMed 2011: The MedTech Conference opens today in Washington, D.C. with a focus on finance, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, compliance, harmonization, and healthcare reform. More than 1,700 industry stakeholders from 22 countries and 35 states are registered to attend the leading annual medical device and diagnostics conference.  

James V. Mazzo, president of Abbott Medical Optics and Chairman of the Advanced Medical Technology Association Board, and Stephen J. Ubl, president and CEO of AdvaMed, will open the conference with a briefing on the impact of the medical technology community on the U.S. economy. The medical technology community supports more than two million American jobs and is a growth sector in the economy, but the approval of breakthrough medical technology takes nearly four years longer in the U.S. than in the European Union.

"Our industry is a U.S. job creator, and in doing so, develops life-saving, life-enhancing technologies for patients around the world," said Caroll Neubauer, the AdvaMed 2011 Conference Committee Chairman, and Chairman and CEO of B. Braun of America. "This year, we are highlighting innovations by MedTech companies and working to foster policy, finance and other industry discussions to advance our industry here at home, and abroad."

Finance, a key focus of the AdvaMed 2011 conference, will be addressed during the Entrepreneur Boot Camp. This five-hour, six-segment program, will include discussions with leading private equity fund managers, tips on accelerating commercialization through capital efficient strategies to benefit the buyer, seller and investor, and an "Ask the CEO" session on life as an entrepreneur and beyond.  Attendees will hear from experts from Guardant Partners, Landmark Capital Group, Inovia Healthcare Ventures, Stryker Orthopedics, Sanovas, MPR, and Semprus BioSciences among others.

Key health and compliance policies also will be discussed on opening day. Health panels will cover healthcare reform one year later, value-based insurance design, and a hospital's view of the world in an era of healthcare reform. The compliance track will focus on best practices for global anti-corruption, the impact of the Sunshine Act on the device industry, and credentialing issues. In addition, global harmonization will again be part of the medtech conference, as it was in 2007. Harmonization by Doing (HBD) is a joint program between the U.S. FDA and Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. It is designed to promote regulatory harmonization between U.S. and Japanese regulatory policies. The opening day of AdvaMed 2011 will feature nearly four hours of special programming on this topic, providing perspectives from academia, regulatory departments and industry.

"With excellent educational programming, a dynamic exhibit hall floor, networking, finance and business development opportunities, and fantastic plenary sessions, I'm pleased and excited to open AdvaMed 2011," said Neubauer.

For more information on The MedTech Conference, visit www.advamed2011.com or follow us on Twitter @advamed2011 and @advamedupdate.

SOURCE AdvaMed 2011