Podcasts about healthegy

This week’s special guest on the OIS Retina Podcast is David Esposito, CEO of ONL Therapeutics. A West Point graduate who served as a platoon leader in the first Gulf War, Esposito began his career in ophthalmology as a pharmaceutical sales rep for Merck. This led to several executive positions and eventually to building and scaling private companies. His career came full circle when investors recruited him to ONL Therapeutics a year ago. In this episode, host Firas Rahhal, MD, digs into ONL’s portfolio of therapies in development, the latest on the company’s clinical trials, and how as a corporate leader Esposito draws on his military experience.

Tom Mitro of Aerie Pharmaceuticals opens up to OIS Podcast host Ehsan Sadri, MD, about the company’s key programs, including the Phase II trial of netarsudil ophthalmic solution for treatment of open-angle glaucoma.

Growing up in Canada, Kevin Lobo only knew he wanted to be a senior executive at a global company someday. That overriding objective took him through the consumer good and chemical industries before the financial executive found his first job in Medtech. In this interview conducted at the Medtech Conference in Minneapolis, Lobo reveals that while he first was reluctant to take that Medtech job, he’s now grateful to have found a home. “If you’ve only been in Medtech, you do not understand how lucky you are to be in this industry.” Lobo shares insights on how he built a career that positioned him to lead one of Medtech’s giant. He also explains why under his watch Stryker grew to become a “serial acquirer” of that has spent $14 billion to acquire 55 companies during his tenure as CEO.

Our Host Steve Krupa has a visitor. Aetion CEO Carolyn Magill pops by Steve’s office at HealthEdge to explain how Aetion raised a round of capital it wasn’t seeking. She also delves deeply into how Aetion’s analysis of different types of data – genomic, socioeconomic, EHR’s – can change how healthcare is delivered and how are costs covered.You can WATCH this Breaking Health podcast interview here.

Thank you for your support of the MedtechTalk Podcast. We hope to see you at the Medtech Conference next week. We’ll be posting compelling interviews with Medtech’s leaders immediately after the conference.

In this week’s podcast, Agnes Berzsenyi, president and CEO of Women’s Health at GE Healthcare, explains how her upbringing in Hungary during a time of political upheaval put her in position to succeed in Medtech. The fall of the Berlin Wall – in addition to presenting a valuable life lesson - gave her the chance to study engineering in the US and secure a job at GE, first in the aviation business. But Berzsenyi’s desire to work for a purpose steered her to healthcare where she has overseen projects in ultrasound and mammography, including the release of the Senographe Pristina and Pristina Dueta, the industry’s first wireless remote that allows women to play an active role in their mammogram. Berzenyi says GE is designing with the patient in mind, creating a more comfortable breast screening procedure. She also talks about how her science-heavy upbringing in Hungary compares to the US where young women may not be steered as strongly toward STEM. She’s working to fix that as well.

Patrick Mooney, head of Novartis’ US eye care business, lays out Novartis’ plans following the spin-out of Alcon and bid to acquire the former Shire ophthalmology franchise from Takeda. Where does Novartis see future growth in eye care? Will ophthalmologists and optometrists see a difference? Is Novartis done acquiring products for a while?

Howard Levin and Mark Gelfand, the principals of Coridea, return to the podcast to detail the trials and tribulations of Ardian. Ardian is one of the bigger #medtech #startup stories over the past two decades. In 2011, Medtronic agreed to pay $800 million upfront for this company that pushed the once crazy idea of ablating renal nerves to lower hypertension. Ardian had raised $70 million from a syndicate of blue chip investors after being forged in the Foundry incubator. VCs proudly shared that the earnouts for Ardian would push that price well over $1 billion. This was a HUGE win for Medtech when it desperately needed it. Three years later came the fall. A day before JP Morgan’s Healthcare Meeting in 2014, Medtronic announced early disappointing of SYMPLICITY HTN-3, a third and larger trial of Ardian’s renal denervation. Medtronic revised the trial, running Spryal HTN on patients who didn’t take any medication for their hypertension – a contrast from the Symplicity trial where patients were taking an average of five medications. In these revised trials, renal denervation is performing much better. The new results exonerated Ardian’s early backers – and perhaps Gelfand and Levin, specifically. This was the team, after all, that combed through medical libraries for clues about hacking the human body to beat back hypertension. The research turned up the discovery that surgeons once would treat extremely unresponsive hypertension by severing nerves near the kidney. The procedure worked, but it was dangerous. Levin and Gelfand saw ablating tissue as a safer path. And, after a lot of trudging up and down the Valley, finally found a willing partner in the team at The Foundry. Early clinical success led to a renal denervation gold rush. Nearly every VC and Strategic investor had a bet in this space. The 2014 debacle convinced many to close their programs and companies, but now Renal Denervation is back in favor. How did Howard Levin and Mark Gelfand enjoy the roller coaster ride? In this podcast, we’ll talk about Ardian, TAVR, the challenges facing Medtech VCs and the poor reception many surgeons give new interventional technologies.

In this podcast, Ardy Arianpour, CEO of Seqster (pronounced Seekster), shares the origin story for creating what he calls, “the Mint.com of health care. Seqster is creating a clear, direct, one-password-only channel between patients and ALL their healthcare data – EHR, genetic and fitness, etc. The start-up is marking its offering to payers and providers and already has secured access to data from 3,000 hospitals and 45,000 physician offices as well as DNA Labs and data-collecting Medtechs like ResMed and DexCom. Hear Arianpour vision for the future of healthcare data.

Over the past decade, no other Medtech start-up has moved markets as much or as quickly as Ardian, the godfather of the renal denervation surge a decade ago. But the gold rush dried up in 2014 when Medtronic delivered disappointing clinical trial news that left many to declare “Renal Denervation is Dead.” Well, if we may borrow from Monty Python, renal denervation is not dead yet. In this two-part podcast, we talk with Mark Gelfand and Howard Levin, the principals of Coridea, who developed Ardian’s approach. We'll talk with them about their path to creating Coridea, the state of innovation, and, of course, how the Ardian “Opera” influenced them going forward.

Avedro Inc. went public on Feb. 14, raising $70 million with its shares pricing at, coincidentally, $14. We talk with Reza Zadno, CEO and president, about the IPO process, which, as you might imagine, she says is as difficult as it looks. We’ll also talk business. Avedro, of course, is a commercial enterprise now, reporting growing sales on its Corneal Crosslinking System that can be used to treat keratoconus, a non-inflammatory eye condition that weakens and misshapes the cornea. What does the future hold for the start-up?

In this episode of the MedtechTalk Podcast, we talk with Shyam Natarajan, PhD, founder and CEO of Avenda Health, a company using imaging, AI and focal lasers to create a better treatment for prostate cancer. The company’s original co-founders – Natarajin and Dr. Leonard Marks - started working on the company in earnest five years ago, but recently has begun getting real traction and making big moves. Natarajan talks about the company’s origins, its unusual fundraising path, and its relatively short path to potential FDA Approval.

Vital Connect CEO Nersi Nazari talks data with Host Steve Krupa in this episode of the Breaking Health podcast. VitalConnect has developed a line of sensors capable of tracking conditions of patients at home and in the hospital. According to the company, its VitalPatch wearable biosensor is a lightweight, wireless, and records eight patient vital signs. The VitalConnect Platform integrates the VitalPatch biosensor with mobile and cloud-based software and analytics. The company closed on $33 million in a Series C last year, drawing capital from Baxter Ventures and MVM Life Sciences.

Oculis CEO Riad Sherif, who once worked for Novartis and Alcon, reveals which company he’d invest in following the spin-off of the latter from the former – but mostly about the Switzerland-based start-up’s promising new pipeline for DME, post-surgery inflammation, and dry eye.

You’ll have a hard time finding a more modest man than Dennis Wahr, president and CEO of Nuvaira. But when asked what company he sees as being poised to establish the Interventional Pulmonology industry Wahr says Nuvaira might be the one. Nuvaira’s Targeted Lung Denervation, or TLD, is a non-surgical procedure that interrupts overactive nerve signals and may reduce obstructive airway symptoms, helping you to breathe easier. Could Nuvaira be the company to finally set the cement in the foundation of Interventional Pulmonology? Or will Nuvaira build upon the success of Pulmonx and Inspire, two other respiratory companies making great strides in commercializing new technology. In this podcast, Dennis Wahr discusses Nuvaira’s fund-raising success and what it means for its future (could an IPO be possible?) He also gives tips to other companies presenting at the May 17 Respiratory Innovation Summit in Dallas, another Healthegy-organized event. AttendRIS.com

With more than $100 million raised in venture capital and three late-stage clinical programs, Oyster Point Pharma is getting a lot done in a short amount of time. In this podcast, CEO and president Jeffrey Nau reveals how the company is working so quickly and ponders what the next major milestone might be.

A few years ago, technology veteran Doug Hirsch was given a prescription that he wasn’t 100% sure he needed, especially after the first pharmacy he brought it to told him the drug would cost over $400. Hirsch walked out with the unfilled prescription and decided to shop around. What he discovered was a prescription marketplace that seemed to offer little rhyme or reason. This mystery led to the creation of GoodRx and an app that allows patients to shop around more easily. Six years later, GoodRx users have saved over $10 billion and one-third of prescribing physicians recommend it to their patients. In this podcast, host Steve Krupa talks with Hirsch about the value of PBMs and the future of GoodRx.

Anyone who has swapped emails with Scott Huennekens has seen the Go Go Go signature at the bottom. They’re three little words, but they say so much about the special brand of enthusiasm Huennekens brings to leading companies like Digirad, Volcano, and most recently, Verb, the partnership between Google and Johnson & Johnson. In this podcast, Huennekens explains what he learned about maintaining momentum in Medtech. When is grit misplaced? When is hopping on a plane to Europe with no plan in hand a good idea? Huennekens will bring his insights to the Medtech Conference on May 29–30.

After entering the ophthalmology industry “by accident,” Bernhard Günther founded Novaliq in 2004 to pursue therapeutic applications for CyclASol, a novel solution used in drug delivery. While Novaliq pursued other therapeutic applications initially, fate once again brought Günther back into ophthalmology. Today, the company is positioned to deliver two new treatments for dry eye disease. In this podcast we’ll cover the company’s origins, its unusual investor, and its move to the US.

No, Amy Belt Raimundo didn’t blow anything up. But she knew early on in college that her initial career choice of chemistry wasn’t her true path. Instead, she earned an economics degree, and used insights learned to begin a stint in consulting. Those formative years led her to business school and a job at Guidant. In this podcast, Amy Belt Raimundo explains how asking the right questions at Guidant set her internal GPS toward a career in investing for venture firms, corporates, and now the most prominent healthcare system in the country.

Punit Soni’s LinkedIn profile includes Intel, Google, and Motorola. But Soni tells the Breaking Health podcast that he believes the “largest, most interesting” tech company will be in health care. Can Suki be that company? Soni sees an enormous opportunity to help physicians be physicians by replacing keyboards with AI-enabled digital assistants that can record electronic health record (HER) documentation. Can this digital assistant improve patient care and reduce physician burnout by getting docs away from data entry and back to doctoring? “We want the doctors to be the bosses of their own lives,” Soni says. “They need to rediscover the joy of practicing medicine.” Suki already is an interesting company to watch.

Benjamin Tsai says his initial plans – or the plans he’d been given – called on him being a doctor. But he quickly saw a greater opportunity working in the life sciences industry. Tsai made a quick run through consulting firms and business school before finding a place at Invus, an investment firm that has operated mostly out of the limelight. In this podcast, Tsai discusses his career, his outlook on Medtech and why Invus – investor in Auris Health and other high-profile deals – is beginning to get out to tell its own story.

We dip into the gene therapy pool one more time, talking with Jay Duker, MD about Luxturna’s impact on ophthalmology. We also discuss how the acquisitions of Spark and Nightstar are benefiting earlier-stage gene therapy start-ups, including his own Hemera Biosciences.

Together, Roche and Biogen paid over $5.5 billion for gene therapy companies Spark and Nightstar. What does this mean for the emerging technology? Spark, of course, received FDA approval for Luxturna as a treatment for inherited retinal disease. But the drug isn’t Roche’s primary focus. Meanwhile, Nightstar’s clinical-stage products could give Biogen a second shot at a gene therapy portfolio after the company severed ties with AGTC in December. Could Biogen make a move to bulk up its ophthalmology offerings?

Lark CEO and Founder Julia Hu had launched two cleantech start-ups early in her career, but a childhood managing a chronic disease predestined her to start Lark Health, developer of an AI-empowered “coach” that can help people with chronic disease manage their own health.

Lisa Wipperman Heine’s career in Medtech was launched when she answered a want ad in a newspaper – remember those? That path took her to top regulatory and clinical affairs positions at several high-profile Medtechs including Acorn Cardiovascular, ev3, and Covidien. Now, Wipperman Heine sits in the CEO chair of stealthy heart failure start-up PreCardia.

After leading a long, distinguished and successful career in Medtech Innovation, Stan Rowe chose a familiar, if not unusual, spot to “retire” – he co-founded NXT Biomedical, an incubator backed by Deerfield Capital and Johnson & Johnson. Rowe previously led the unique Advanced Technologies Unit at Edwards Lifesciences Corp., the same company that earlier had acquired his start-up, Percutaneous Valve Technologies. In this podcast, Rowe walks us through a career that started in pharmaceuticals. He also shares his particular philosophy on how corporate R&D units should see the world.

Industry leaders say optometry presents an enormous opportunity for eye care companies.Participants:Joseph Boorady, OD, FAAO, VP, Ocular Surface - Johnson & Johnson VisionRobert Dempsey, Head of Global Ophthalmics Franchise - TakedaDave Gibson, Associate VP, Consumer Eye Care & Customer Development - AllerganAngelo Rago, Global Head, Ophthalmic Diagnostics - Carl Zeiss MeditecCalvin Roberts, MD, SVP, Chief Medical Officer - Bausch + Lomb Moderated By:Emmett T. Cunningham Jr., MD, PhD, MPH, Sr. Managing Director - Blackstone Life Sciences

We visit again with James Thimons, OD, FAA, co-chair of OIS@SECO, the newest member of the OIS family. OIS@SECO convened last week in New Orleans, drawing more than 200 optometrists, entrepreneurs, and industry members. In this interview, Dr. Thimons, clinical director of Ophthalmic Consultants of Connecticut, walks us through the day. We also ask the dry eye expert his take on the recent fund-raising success of Oyster Pharmaceuticals, developer of a nasal spray that might help relieve the pain of that persistent condition.

Arvind Rajan left his managing director post at LinkedIn intent upon two things – taking some time off with his family and finding a new venture that would be hard, important, and transformative to the world. Rajan and his co-founders, James Chaukos and Vince Kim – saw an imbalance in how patients with late-stage kidney disease were being treated. Cricket Health – identified as one of the Fierce 15 Companies in healthcare – is working to balance the scales in favor of patients by building teams of nephrologists, dieticians, even experienced patient mentors to help people before they reach kidney failure.

Matt Likens’ two decades-plus at Baxter cultivated in him a desire to deliver “critical therapies for life-threatening conditions.” He found great success as CEO of Ulthera, an aesthetics company using ultrasound energy, but once that company was sold to Merz he sought a way back to developing devices that can help sick people become well. He found such an opportunity at GT Medical Technologies, developer of collagen-based GammaTiles – tiles that deliver postsurgery radiation to prevent the regrowth of tumors in residual cells. In this podcast, Likens details the benefits of GT’s STaRT therapy. This is his second stint as a start-up CEO and Likens shares the successful approaches he’s borrowing from Ulthera including setting a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) – “Creating the New Standard of Care for Patients with Brain Tumors.” He also mentions the company’s six operating principles: Constructive EngagementCollaborationConsistencyComplianceIngenuityValue

Former Aerie CMO Brian Levy, OD, was settling down for a quieter life in Florida when he came upon OcuNexus, a biopharmaceutical company utilizing a novel mechanism of action called “Gap Junction Channel Modulation” to develop treatments for the front and back of the eye. Levy saw the opportunity to create a biopharma capable of devising new therapies inside and outside of ophthalmology.

Twenty five years ago, Michael Freeman collaborated with his father and brothers to create the first video technology that could transmit via cellular technology. As important an achievement as that might be, Freeman is developing an augmented reality device that could have an even greater impact on people who have lost their vision to Macular Degeneration. Once again, Freeman and his brothers have their father’s leadership to thank.

Santé Ventures partner James Eadie, MD, doesn’t recall the good old days of Medtech. He joined the Austin-based Venture Firm after two tours in Iraq with the Air Force where he led an ER and served as part of a “flying ICU,” airlifting wounded soldiers out of combat zones. Upon returning to the states, Eadie recognized his desire to run a company could be satisfied by investing in early-stage medical device firms, and he’s developed an impressive record over that span backing companies including TVA Medical, Claret Medical, and Millipede – three companies that could ultimately secure close to a billion dollars in M&A. In this podcast you’ll hear how Santé views early-stage ideas, including those literally drawn up on napkins. Does Santé bet on the jockey or the horse? We’ll let Eadie answer that one.

Breaking Health Host Steve Krupa returns to the Big Chair, reconnecting with old friend and former portfolio company CEO Tony Miller. In this podcast, the pair unpack the strategy of Bind, the “on-demand healthcare insurance” company working to change how employers insure their employees. Find out more at yourbind.com.

Paul Karpecki thought his odds were pretty good at the start of his career, but an early setback put him on a path that’s made him one of the most successful optometrists in the country. In this interview, Karpecki recounts his path to optometry and looks forward to how technology will change how he and other optometrists care for their patients. He also explains why he agreed to serve as a co-chair of the February 21 OIS@SECO.

Eye care innovator extraordinaire Mark Blumenkranz joins the podcast to preview the April 8 Forum on Laser-Based Imaging workshop. In this interview, Blumenkranz explains why eye care professionals of all types – ophthalmologists and optometrists – should plan on attending. We also talk about one of the more recent investments by Blumenkranz’s venture firm, Lagunitas Biosciences. Go to this link for more information about the workshop.

Earlier this month, Silicon Valley Bank released its Trends in Healthcare Investments and Exits 2019, the latest of the bank’s annual reports on the state of healthcare investing. In this podcast we talk with Report Guru (and Managing Director) Jonathan Norris about the top takeaways including:What’s the emerging hot spot for Device Start-Ups?What VCs are making Series A deals?Are Angels and Crowdfunding groups making an impact?How busy are Corporates?What’s a Big Exit? And why are they on the rise?You can download the report yourself here.Join us at the Medtech Conference to hear Norris’ update on Medtech Funding

Vance Thompson Vision’s Justin Schweitzer, OD, will speak next month at the February 21 OIS@SECO. In this podcast, Dr. Schweitzer shares his insights on patient responses to new treatments for dry eye, glaucoma, and other conditions ­– and a whole lot more. He also is excited by new tools to be added to optometrists’ armamentarium. What brought him into optometry? What has him most excited about the future?

Susan DeVore has been in and around the healthcare industry for most of her life – long before she became president and CEO of Premier Inc., a company that unites an alliance of more than 4,000 hospitals and health systems and approximately 165,000 other providers and organizations to transform healthcare. It’s a little-known fact that Susan’s roots at Premier date back to her childhood when her father, a biomedical engineer, worked for a predecessor to the company. After working at Ernst & Young – including time as a partner and senior healthcare industry management practice leader, among other roles – she got the call to interview at Premier. No one was aware of Susan’s company legacy at that time, but after she joined, there were longtime employees who remembered her attending the company picnic or other gatherings as a young teenager. Susan’s lifelong focus on improving the healthcare system and her current role at Premier – driven by insight from such a vast network of care delivery organizations – combine to give her an incredibly valuable perspective for solving healthcare’s biggest challenges. Premier’s network enables it to maintain a dataset that encompasses roughly 45% of patients in the US. Those data inform Susan’s leadership and the decisions the company makes to help solve cost and quality challenges and develop a unique model of care delivery. At the HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition in February Susan will be delivering a keynote session titled, “Healing from Within: Leading Change, Inspiring Action.” But you can hear her first on this episode of Breaking Health Podcast. Susan’s conversation with Keith Figlioli covers a number of pressing topics including: • Reducing Waste in the System – Susan talks about how there’s still 30% waste in the system and three times unwanted variation in care delivery, and how these challenges can’t be solved by insurance companies or the government. She believes the only way to tackle them is head-on, from within the system, and shares her thoughts about how data, technology, and influence within healthcare systems are all critical to driving transformation.• Changing the Social System – the decades-old social system that the healthcare industry is built upon is one that’s difficult to change. But it’s starting to change in experimental ways, driven by innovators and early adopters who recognize that it’s unsustainable for healthcare costs to grow at twice the rate of the economy, and who want to do something about it. Susan talks about how and why it’s easy to stay in a fee-for-service world and shares her thoughts on the main barriers to change.• The Path to Alternative Payments – as Susan sees it, the big thing that’s holding health systems back from adopting alternative payment models is uncertainty. If providers that haven’t adopted or are only experimenting in alternative payments think there’s a chance that fee-for-service might last longer, it’s much harder for them to make the leap. However, she talks about her view of federal regulations and how the “training wheels are coming off” to force change more quickly.• The Next Big Thing: Making Big Data Small – while increasing access to healthcare data is playing an important role in transforming the industry, one big challenge right now is the sheer volume of data that exists. Susan talks about how the next big thing on the horizon will be figuring out ways to make vast amounts of data more usable. She talks about how to get “small data” into the workflow so it’s available for physicians and patients to use in making informed decisions that change the care being delivered.To hear Susan DeVore talk about these topics and more, listen to this episode of Breaking Health Podcast.

In this encore OIS Podcast, well-known Dry Eye Coach discusses some of the strategies she’ll be sharing next month at OIS@SECO. Dr. Hauser will help lead off next month’s program at OIS@SECO. In this encore OIS Podcast, Dr. Hauser shares her insights on new dry eye treatments and offers advice for building an eye care practice through social media.

Miromatrix straddles the line between biotech and medtech. The start-up is developing a line of “ghost organs” that can be used in humans. The technology is moving fast, and Ross hopes to have clinical trials up and running by the end of 2020. The future is here. Also, I’ll announce a keynote speaker for the May 30 Medtech Conference.

Susan Orr, recently named CEO of Notal Vision, lays out an ambitious plan for the “16-year-old start-up” that promises better treatment and tracking for patients with age-related macular degeneration. Can Notal Vision create an effective home-based OCT scanner? Orr also walks us through a career that bridges optometry and large corporations. How is she preparing for the CEO role?

Fortune disguised as misfortune led Anne Morrissey to embark on a Medtech career. Since that start, hard work, perseverance and some helpful mentors put her on the CEO track. Today, Morrissey leads an exciting Medtech start-up that’s testing a device to stop postpartum hemorrhaging.

OIS Podcast visits with Eric Donnenfeld, MD, to review the field of innovative dry eye companies. We discuss the advances in drugs and devices, and Dr. Donnenfeld shares how new treatments are impacting ophthalmology, optometry, and combined practices. Few know the dry eye space as well.

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.

Chris Wroten, OD, left a chemical engineering career to pursue his early love of optometry. This path followed a few detours and disasters (of the natural kind), but he credits the ophthalmology community for seeing him through some challenging times. Dr. Wroten, who is helping to organize the upcoming OIS@SECO in New Orleans, sees smooth roads ahead for innovation in eye care.

IntelyCare CEO David Coppins details his company’s solution for nursing staffing shortages. The company makes its own nurses available to providers through a software scheduling tool, removing a lot of the juggling and guesswork. Earlier this month, IntelyCare announced a $10.8 million round led by Leerink Revelation Partners with participation from Longmeadow Capital, previous investor LRVHealth and Bill Mantzoukas, an entrepreneur who has owned and operated a series of skilled nursing facilities.

Steven Silverstein, MD, visits with the podcast to explain how extensively he uses Light Induced Visual-Response testing in his daily practice. We spoke with Dr. Silverstein prior to a talk he gave at this year’s AAO meeting. He explains how the test delivers important insights on patients battling several eye conditions including glaucoma, diabetic macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy. We also talk about his role in local politics, fluoridation, and how he got backstage with KISS.

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.