Tuesday, October 21, 2008
| MD&DI Panel Discussion (12:30 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.) |
Combination Products: A Convergence of Technologies and Market Opportunities 
The combination products market continues to grow, providing precision technologies in drug delivery for therapeutic care. Market opportunities abound for companies to converge their expertise, resources, and technologies for advancement of combination products. This panel discussion will examine business and intellectual property strategies, licensing and collaborative opportunities, and technology innovations arising in the near future.
Chair: Ron Sills, Lead Project Analyst, Nerac
Panelists:
Thomas Gunderson, Senior Research Analyst, Piper Jaffray
Rob Cottone, Vice President of IP and Technology, OrbusNeich Medical
Richard Taney, CEO, Delcath Systems, Inc.
Arthur Erdman, PhD, Center Director, University of Minnesota
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Chair: Ron Sills, Lead Project Analyst, Nerac
About the Chair
Ron Sills, Lead Project Analyst, Nerac
As team leader for Nerac Analysts specializing in Medical Devices, Ron Sills engages cross-functional resources to meet a client''s business and product development goals. Ron enhances a client''s critical decisions by providing insight into competitive activities, emerging technologies and industry developments that will impact their business. As a manager of quality and R&D engineer at Circon ACMI, Ron gained keen insight into developing a product and bringing it to market, with the accompanying responsibilities and regulatory requirements of a medical device organization. His expertise includes materials requirements, design development and validation, regulatory guidelines, manufacturing processes and marketing and sales strategies. Ron is a member of AAMI, RAPS and Beacon Alliance and also teaches microbiology at a local Connecticut college. Ron leads his multi-regional Medical Devices team from Nerac''s Connecticut headquarters.
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About the Panelists
Thomas Gunderson, Senior Research Analyst, Piper Jaffray
Thomas Gunderson is a managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, following medical technology companies. In over 15 years as an analyst, Gunderson has been recognized by several industry publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Institutional Investor, First Call, and Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry. He holds a bachelor's degree from Carleton College, and graduate degrees in cell biology and business administration.
Rob Cottone, Vice President of IP and Technology, OrbusNeich Medical
Robert Cottone co-founded OrbusNeich Medical in 1996. Prior to that, he worked for Cordis, in Miami Lakes, Florida from 1989 until 1996. Mr. Cottone was directly involved in the development, engineering, and manufacturing of key products including diagnostic catheters, endomyocardial biopsy forceps, coronary and peripheral vascular stents and the GENOUS coating technology platforms. In these capacities, Mr. Cottone provided leadership and technical expertise to assure that the products met market requirements and were successfully produced and commercialized. He has a BS in industrial engineering and is the co-inventor of GENOUS ™ , along with 15 issued US patents and 29 domestic and foreign patent applications.
Richard Taney, CEO, Delcath Systems, Inc.
Mr. Taney has been a Director since November 2006, was appointed Chief Executive Officer in December 2006 and named President in April 2007. He is the founding member of T2 Capital Management, LLC, an investment management company. Prior to establishing his money management venture, he spent 20 years advising and managing assets for high net worth and institutional clients, most recently as Managing Director of Banc of America Securities. Mr. Taney is also a founding partner of Sandpiper Capital Partners, an investment partnership that focuses on private equity investments and advisory work for privately held companies involved in a variety of emerging technologies. He earned his B.A. from Tufts University and his J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
Arthur Erdman, PhD, Center Director, University of Minnesota
Arthur G. Erdman, P.E., is the Richard C. Jordan Professor and a Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, specializing in mechanical design, bioengineering and product design. In July 2007 he was selected as the Director of the Medical Devices Center at the U of M. He received his BS degree at Rutgers University, his MS and Ph.D. at RPI. Dr. Erdman has
published over 275 technical papers, 3 books, holds over 30 patents, and shares with his former students 9 Best Paper Awards at international conferences. Dr. Erdman currently has a number of ongoing projects of which many are related to biomedical engineering and medical device design. He led the effort to create LINCAGES, a mechanism software design package that has been use worldwide. Dr. Erdman has had research collaborations with faculty in Ophthalmology, Neuroscience, Epidemiology, Orthopedics, Surgery, Dentistry, Otolaryngology and Sport Biomechanics. He has consulted at over 50 companies in mechanical and product design, including Xerox, 3M, Andersen Windows, Proctor and Gamble, HP, Rollerblade, Sulzer Medica and Yamaha. He has received a number of awards including ASME Machine Design Award and the ASME Outstanding Design Educator Award. Erdman is a Fellow of ASME and a Founding Fellow of AIMBE. He has been the Chair of seven Design of Medical Devices Conferences which are held next to the University of Minnesota each April.
