Category: Community

Turning MedTech Ideas Into Action

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Actuator is Australia’s premier medical technology commercialisation initiative: priming, augmenting and developing our state-based innovation ecosystems through a nationally-focused strategy. The Actuator employs a unique, powerful and differentiated approach that:

  1. is industry-led;
  2. activates players across the entire innovation spectrum;
  3. augments local ecosystems; and
  4. fosters an unwavering technology commercialisation focus.

Wherever an idea or venture is on the commercialisation pathway, the Actuator has a program designed to smooth its journey and accelerate its development, with a mission to catapult Australia into its rightful place at the head of the global innovation race. They are also home to Australia’s largest and longest-standing early-stage MedTech startup entrepreneurship program – MedTech’s Got Talent

The Actuator has announced the opening of round 2 of its Actuator Accelerator – the nation’s first industry-led, VC-backed 15-month Medtech acceleration program which simultaneously accelerates technology development, builds team capability and provides a pathway to $2.7 million in equity funding. Applications close on 27th April for a July 2018 intake.

For more details and or to apply, visit: http://medtechactuator.com/programs

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Johnson & Johnson Partners with Monash University on MedTech Commercialisation

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The partnering office, JJIPO@MONASH, will be the Victorian headquarters for Johnson & Johnson’s scientific, investment and commercialisation arms to identify medtech projects that can be partnered towards commercialisation.

Australia ranks fifth in the world for life science innovation [1] and Victoria is home to over 40 per cent of Australia’s ASX-listed health science companies.

Monash President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, says the office demonstrated the university’s commitment to supporting new partnerships in biomedical innovation.

‘Monash University has established a world-class reputation for helping to solve some of the most pressing challenges of our time,’ she says. ‘The new Johnson & Johnson Innovation Partnering Office, which expands on our existing partnership with the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, greatly advances Victoria’s expertise in biomedical research, fostering new partnerships and innovation to create real and lasting impact worldwide.’

To mark the opening of JJIPO@MONASH, Johnson & Johnson and Monash University have announced the Victorian QuickFire Challenge: Driving Device Innovation, a joint initiative with the Victorian Government, to help kick off the search for new medical device innovation.

The three individuals or teams who submit the most promising medical device solutions in the challenge will be awarded funding from a total grant pool of A$300,000 provided by the Victorian Government to further accelerate their medical device innovations. They will also receive mentoring and special access to the Johnson & Johnson’s global network of experts in development and commercialisation.

JJIPO@Monash is the second partnering office that Johnson & Johnson Innovation has opened in Australia, following the success of the first Johnson & Johnson Innovation Partnering Office in Queensland ( JJIPO@QUT ), which was announced in 2016 in partnership with the Queensland Government and Queensland University of Technology.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Medicines Australia’s CEO, Milton Catelin, Announces Resignation

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Medicines Australia Chairman Wes Cook thanked Milton, stating, “On behalf of the Board and our members I would like to thank Milton Catelin for his contribution to the innovative medicines industry.”

‘Milton is leaving Medicines Australia following a period of significant transformation and growth for our sector.”

“As an industry body we have benefited from his leadership of a highly experienced team who together have delivered meaningful health policy outcomes, for example the successful negotiation of the modification of the Government’s skilled migration occupation lists.”

“Milton has also worked closely with the members of the Medicines Australia secretariat and member companies to build strong and meaningful partnerships with our stakeholders, culminating in the highly engaging PharmAus event at Parliament House in September last year”, Mr Cook said.

Milton Catelin thanked the Board for their support over the past 18 months.

“As a group of highly engaged Managing Directors, they have worked cohesively to support myself and the secretariat to achieve some outstanding outcomes,” said Mr Catelin.

“I leave medicines Australia and the innovative medicines industry at a time of great strength. We’ve worked hard to establish the Strategic Agreement and developed firm partnerships with Government. Importantly, we have also mobilised and united as a membership like never before,” he said.

“I am privileged to have been able to contribute to this extraordinary sector,”

“I’d also like to thank the MA secretariat and wider membership for their commitment. Throughout my tenure, I have witnessed a passion and dedication that highlights how meaningful this industry is to the health of Australians,” Mr Catelin said.

Looking forward, Mr Cook said, “Today, with a highly engaged membership and experienced Secretariat, Medicines Australia is incredibly well positioned to contribute to the development of good health policy in Australia.

“I sincerely wish Milton all the very best on his future and his important move back to the UK to join his family,” concluded Mr Cook.

A sub-committee of the Medicines Australia Board will now commence a process to recruit a new CEO.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Q&A with Stryker’s own Kevin Lobo

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What differentiates Stryker from its peers in the healthcare/medical technology industry?

People are the magic of Stryker, and we have a unique culture that sets us apart.  We attract people who are passionate and driven to make healthcare better and improve lives globally.  Our employees are humble and hardworking and have earned numerous accolades as a great place to work, including being recognized for creating an environment that fosters diversity and inclusion.

We are intensely focused on customers and differentiate ourselves through an organizational model of business unit specialization.  Each unit has its own sales, marketing, R&D and business development teams that collaborate closely with our customers. This approach results in customer-driven innovation that improves the patient and customer experience.

How do you view your role and responsibilities in improving healthcare? What are some of the major areas in which you think you can make a significant difference?

We are guided by our mission—Together with our customers, we are driven to make healthcare better—and our values—Integrity, Accountability, People and Performance.

We are driven to improve outcomes for patients and caregivers. For example, our mechanical thrombectomy products, which remove clots from blood vessels in the brain, combined with better pathways for care for stroke victims, have the potential to significantly reduce disability and save lives. Mako, our robotic arm-assisted surgery product, enables surgeons to have a more predictable surgical experience when performing joint replacement surgery.  And our emergency powered cots help protect EMTs from back injuries when loading and unloading patients into ambulances.

What does innovation mean to you? How do you create a culture within the company that supports this, and how do you work with partners to move these innovations forward?

Customers and patients are at the heart of everything we do. We nurture innovation to solve customer challenges. That approach began with our founder, Dr. Homer Stryker, an orthopaedic surgeon in Kalamazoo, Michigan, who invented products in the local community hospital where he worked, all in an effort to better serve the needs of his patients.

Today, we collaborate with hospitals and healthcare providers to make sure we understand their practice environment, treatment protocols and unmet needs. Our deep understanding of our customers helps us design and manufacture products and services that make a difference for them. We also find new innovations through a disciplined approach to strategic mergers and acquisitions that allows us to further develop new technologies and integrate them into our product portfolio.

We have acquired over 40 companies in the past five years and have increased research and development spending significantly.  The result is a leading technology position in many areas such as hard-tissue robotics, 3D-printing of titanium, mixed-reality use by sales teams, and advanced imaging for minimally invasive surgery.

What’s your vision for the company over the next 5 years? What would you like it to be known for?

We’d like to be known as the global MedTech leader in Orthopaedics, Medical and Surgical Equipment, and Neurotechnology and Spine.   We expect to continue our impressive track record of growth by providing meaningful innovations to improve customer and patient outcomes. We think we can do that by attracting people who care deeply about making healthcare better and using their expertise to improve lives around the world.

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MTPConnect reports strong growth in Australia’s Medtech sector

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MTPConnect – the Medical Technology, Biotechnology, and Pharmaceutical (MTP) Industry Growth Centre – has released new medtech specific metrics displaying that jobs supported by the medtech sector increased by 59% to 17,700 from 2015 to 2016, and that the sector boasted 1,046 companies in 2016. The new data, sourced by MTPConnect from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), highlights the progress the local MTP sector has made to maintain and extend its world-class standing in recent years.

MTPConnect has released the updated suite of metrics, building on those reported in its Sector Competiveness Plan, to provide a benchmark for the ongoing measurement and tracking of the performance of the Australian MTP sector, including medtech breakdowns. The Federal Government has identified the MTP sector as one of six priority areas where Australia could lead the world, and MTPConnect exists to help the local sector seize more commercialisation opportunities and accelerate its rate of growth.

Medtech Metrics Snapshot

·         1,046 industry companies in medtech in 2016

·         17,700 medtech industry employees in 2016

·         $1.9 billion medtech industry gross value added in 2016

·         $1.5 billion medical instruments and appliances exports in 2016

·         159 device clinical trials started in 2015

·         108 medtech patents submitted by sector participants in 2016

Jobs in the Australian medtech sector are at the highest level since 2011, with 17,700 industry jobs supported in 2016, showing growth of 6,600 industry employees since 2015. Medtech industry gross value added has increased steadily to $1.9 billion in 2016 from $1.6 billion in 2010, and device clinical trials were at 159 in 2015, up by 81% from 2010. Furthermore, manufacturing exports are on the rise, with strong growth in medical instruments and appliances reaching $1.5 billion in 2016. The combined MTP sector is the 10th largest export by value in Australia, maintaining its position in the top ten.

Sue MacLeman, Managing Director and CEO of MTPConnect, said the new data demonstrates that the Australian MTP sector is already starting to drive increasing growth in Australia.

“We’re delighted to share new data that reveals the immense positive impact the MTP, and medtech sub-sector specifically, make to Australia’s healthcare and economic future. The broader MTP sector continues to be a significant contributor to the Australian economy, creating new jobs and increasing GVA. This growth is set to continue, especially with steady growth in medical instrument and appliance exports.

“The Medical Research Future Fund and Biomedical Translation Fund will result in significant increases in grants, co-investment funds and capital equity from 2017, with c. $250 million in funds already allocated. Our work on the BioMedTech Horizons fund has clearly demonstrated the immense number of outstanding innovations in the sector, reinforcing the bright future ahead for Australia.

“It is an honour to work with such an important and mobilised sector that has seized opportunities to collaboratively and creatively address national sector gaps and constraints. We look forward to driving further discussion and focus in the sector on priority areas shaping the future in which Australia can excel, such as precision medicine, 3D printing and digital health evolution.”

MTPConnect sits at the nexus of the sector, driving collaboration, acting as an independent voice for change and funding big, bold ideas to accelerate growth and drive greater commercialisation opportunities. The updated metrics build on the significant work that has been undertaken by MTPConnect since 2016.

GO Purple for Epilepsy Awareness

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In Australia alone approximately 250,000 people live with epilepsy and one in 25 people will have epilepsy at some point in their life.

Ask Leah Bohm what it’s like to have a family member with epilepsy but luckily for her medical technology has provided a life changing opportunity. Last year Leah spoke to a room full of politicians to tell her story. The power and authenticity of her story left everyone with no doubt, medical technology can change lives for the better.

Global advances in medical technology over the past 20 years have resulted in a 56% reduction in hospital stays, 25% decline in disability rates and increased life expectancy of approximately 3.2 years.

Technology allows patients to hear, to walk, to see, to live or to have a quality of life that they otherwise would not have. The gradual innovation over the years has seen some critical devices develop from technologies that were lifesaving but their design and functional restrictions limited patients’ quality of life to technologies that now save lives and provide a high quality of life for patients.

For Leah, her eight year old son has been living with an aggressive form of epilepsy since just before his 1st birthday. Over the years, his neurologist prescribed him drug after drug after drug, full of side effects, desperately trying to offer some relief. His condition was so bad, that Leah felt she barely knew her son. When he wasn’t seizing throughout the day, sometimes over 300 seizures in a day, he was recovering from the aftereffects.  Her son has spent at least two Christmases, an Easter and a Mother’s Day, plus a myriad of other days in hospital from the effects of his epilepsy. Most often injuries sustained from atonic episodes, where the patient suddenly loses consciousness and can fall to the ground if standing.

Eventually the neurologist suggested he be provided with a vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy.

For Leah, a miracle occurred on April 24th, 2014, six months after her son’s implant was activated, he had his first seizure free day. Since then he’s been seizure fee, this has allowed her to finally meet her son, hidden for so many years by his condition. But more importantly it has given her son a future, one she never thought he would have.

Each story I hear is so uniquely powerful, and serves as a reminder of the importance of continued innovation to society and patients everywhere.

Australia has an excellent health system that makes possible some of the most up-to-date medical procedures for people like Leah’s son. We are a fortunate country that provides universal health care to all that enables wonderful patient outcomes.

I look forward during March on behalf of the medical technology industry to help raise awareness of epilepsy and Go Purple. At the end of the day everything the medical device industry does and seeks to do has patients as the core focus.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_zigzag][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”1585″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ian Burgess is the CEO of the Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

NSW Minister for Women Pays Tribute to Women in MedTech

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This year the theme – press for progress – is a live issue globally and something the MedTech industry is actively pursuing.

The MTAA and the MedTech industry are leading the debate to promote the benefits of gender diversity in the workplace. Just last month the Workplace Gender Equality Agency recognised Baxter Healthcare, Becton Dickinson and Johnson & Johnson as leaders in workplace gender equality.

Speaking at the event, Minister Davies said the NSW Government was building a health system the people of NSW need and, as a result, creating exciting work opportunities for women in STEM.

“As a government, we are absolutely committed to encouraging more women to join the medical technology sector, and leadership from MTAA is vital to achieving real change,” Ms Davies said.

MTAA CEO, Ian Burgess, said the industry was pleased to see the healthcare sector has the highest proportion of women in senior leadership roles across any industry with 70.3 per cent, but also indicated there was more work to be done.

“Which is why later this year MTAA will be releasing a White Paper on practices to further promote gender diversity in the MedTech industry.

“We thank the Minister for coming to speak to us and we look forward to seeing the recipients of the 2018 Premier’s Award for Women of the Year,” Mr Burgess said.

Stryker Named Best Place To Work In 2017

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Stryker South Pacific has been recognised as the #1 Best Place to Work in Australia out of the top 50 employers nationally. This is the fourth time Stryker South Pacific has appeared on the Best Places to Work list.

“We are a company full of truly incredible individuals who work together as one team, with one common purpose: to make healthcare better. Our people consistently go above and beyond to help make a difference to our customers, their patients, and to each other. This award belongs to our people.” – Maurice Ben-Mayor, President Stryker South Pacific.

The organisation behind the study, Great Place to Work, declares that a great workplace is one where you trust the people you work for, have pride in what you do and enjoy the people you work with. In the tenth annual award, medical device company Stryker took out the top spot amongst organisations with 100 – 999 employees.

This is not a one off for the company. Stryker has a proven track record. In 2014, Stryker were ranked #25, before jumping 21 spots to #4 in 2015 and then #2 in 2016. Mr Ben-Mayor puts this down to the strategy of Building the Best Team.

“Attracting and engaging employees is a continuous evolution,” says Mr Ben-Mayor.

“As leaders, we need to ensure it evolves in a positive way and this requires constant focus and attention on all the areas that drive a culture of engagement: trust in the leadership, pride and inspiration in the work you do and the opportunity to do what you do best.”

A strengths-based approach

In fact, Stryker’s unique hiring framework – designed for them in partnership with the Gallup Organisation – focuses on how the strengths and talents of a potential candidate align with the role they are applying for, rather than whether or not they have experience in that particular role.

This philosophy is central to Stryker’s success when it comes to building the best team because it allows employees to shine in roles that fit with what they enjoy doing and with what they do best, rather than ‘pigeon holing’ people into careers based solely on their experience to date.

How does Stryker foster a culture of engagement?

For Mr Ben-Mayor and his Leadership Team, ensuring the company mission – ‘together with our customers, we are driven to make healthcare better’ – is at the heart of everything employees see, hear and do, helps to continually inspire and remind them of the very real human impact of their work.

“Connecting individuals to a bigger purpose is becoming increasingly important, especially as Generation Y makes up a higher percentage of the employee-demographic,” Mr Ben-Mayor says.

As Stryker, no matter from what generation or what position, employees know that at the end of every sale, transaction, medical education training program, phone call, product dispatch, or even internal meeting, there is a patient in need of Stryker’s products or services. This common goal unites everyone behind that common purpose: to make a difference.

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