It’s already that time again.
Time for the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council‘s 13th annual conference at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, May 5 from 8 to 11 a.m.
Last year’s event, in the halcyon days before the economy went south, opened with a keynote speech by Gov. Deval Patrick and closed with a prize giveaway by Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino.
With new financial realities in play, a new administration in Washington and healthcare reform in the air, the focus this year has shifted to the changes and challenges confronting the industry.
Speakers will explain how new faces at the federal Food & Drug Administration could change the playing field for the medical devices industry (Change at the FDA: How Will it Impact the Medical Device Industry? by Mark Heller, a partner at Goodwin Procter);
— Report on how the slumping economy is affecting the industry here and in Europe (The Pulse of the Medical Device Industry – 2009, by Ernst & Young partner Richard Ramko and The State of the European MedTech Market by Eucomed CEO John Wilkinson);
— And provide a bird’s-eye view of what’s in flux in D.C. (Change in Washington – Implications for the Health Care Industry by AdvaMed president Stephen Ubl).
MassMEDIC president Tom Sommer told MassDevice that the council planned this year’s conference around the core issues facing the industry on the local, national and international level.
“This is a big year. We’ve got some serious topics to be addressed,” Sommer said. “We wanted to flatten out the agenda and really delve into some topics that are of interest to this industry, especially at this time.”