LOS ANGELES – AdvaMed Accel and MedTech Innovator announce that Sparta Biomedical is the winner of the 2023 MedTech Innovator Execution Award and the 2023 AdvaMed Accel Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award. Both awards recognize the potential of an up-and-coming entrepreneur or entrepreneurial medical technology company and were presented during the AdvaMed Accel Leadership Seminar at the 2023 MedTech Conference in Anaheim.

Sparta Biomedical is developing the first-of-its-kind chemically engineered cartilage platform, Galene, to address the degeneration of cartilage between the joints, which can cause significant personal, economic, societal burden for individuals, families, and communities. 

“Small medical technology companies are at the forefront of innovation that improves patient care, and this year’s MedTech Innovator accelerator companies represent the very best our industry has to offer,” said DeChane Dorsey, executive director of AdvaMed Accel. “We are proud to recognize Sparta Biomedical with our 2023 award during The MedTech Conference to help them achieve their goals in developing life-improving care for patients living with osteoarthritis.”

“The Execution Award Competition celebrates high performers in achieving commercialization milestones on the path to market where they can positively impact patient lives,” said Paul Grand, CEO of MedTech Innovator. “Sparta Biomedical is executing well on its mission to treat osteoarthritis and get people moving without pain. We’re thrilled to recognize the Sparta Biomedical team for their exceptional accomplishments. We will continue to support all five of our 2023 finalists as they work tirelessly to improve human health.”

The MedTech Innovator Execution Award, presented jointly by AdvaMed Accel and MedTech Innovator, recognizes strong leadership teams with next-generation innovations and the resources to successfully execute on their goals of improving patient care.

The Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award was created to encourage the enthusiastic pursuit of business excellence in the medical technology industry. It is named after the late entrepreneur and patient care advocate Virginia Rybski, president and CEO of Regenesis Biomedical and a member of AdvaMed’s Board of Directors and the association’s Accel Executive Committee, who passed away in 2013. The award is presented each year during the association’s annual meeting to a single presenting company or entrepreneur.

“It is an honor to be recognized and receive the 2023 Execution Award and the Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award,” said Dushyanth Surakanti, CEO and Co-Founder of Sparta Biomedical. “These awards are going to help us in our goal of helping patients with osteoarthritis live pain free. Thank you to MedTech Innovator and AdvaMed for not only giving us this opportunity to showcase our work, but also for the recognition of these two awards.”

The MedTech Innovator competition has awarded more than $500,000 in cash prizes and in-kind awards so far in 2023. An additional $325,000 will be awarded at the two remaining competitions this year, taking place November 14-15, 2023, at the MedTech Strategist conference in San Francisco.

About MedTech Innovator

MedTech Innovator is the world’s largest accelerator of medical technology companies and the premier nonprofit startup accelerator in the medical technology industry. Its mission is to improve patients’ lives by accelerating the growth of companies transforming the healthcare system. Since 2013, MedTech Innovator has reviewed more than 9,500 startups and graduated 613 companies that have gone on to raise more than $7.2 billion in follow-on funding and have brought 283 products to market.

For more information about MedTech Innovator, visit their website and follow them on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).

About AdvaMed Accel

AdvaMed Accel is the division within AdvaMed dedicated to addressing the unique needs and challenges of smaller medical device and diagnostics manufacturers – the lifeblood of the medical technology industry. The only organization of its kind focusing specifically on the needs of the medtech industry’s emerging growth companies, AdvaMed Accel works to create a policy environment more conducive to capital formation and innovation. For more information, visit www.advamedaccel.org.

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Sectors

Orthopedic

Orthopedic technology restores mobility and dexterity and eases pain, helping patients regain or maintain their best quality of life, with increasingly minimally invasive procedures. 

Sectors

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Orthopedic devices help patients by restoring mobility, relieving pain, and improving quality of life. Knee and hip replacements, spinal surgery, and broken bone diagnosis and treatment are the best-known orthopedic procedures. Other critically important technologies include shoulder and extremity replacements and products needed for trauma or maxillofacial surgeries. Orthopedic companies also manufacture robots and computerized navigation systems to help improve outcomes associated with orthopedic procedures. The medical technology central to those surgeries is evolving to allow faster recovery and longer-term positive outcomes than ever before. However, the orthopedic sector goes beyond the highest profile devices to include sports medicine, regenerative solutions, osteoarthritis pain management, and bracing designed to ease pain and restore mobility.  

Patient Story

Read about how orthopedic technology helped one patient get back to his life. 

Patient

Back to Life: Bill Walton’s Story

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WASHINGTON – AdvaMed, the world’s leading medical technology association, announced that Ashley McEvoy, Executive Vice President and Worldwide Chairman of Medtech at Johnson & Johnson, was elected Chairman of the AdvaMed Board of Directors for a two-year term beginning today.

McEvoy has served on the AdvaMed Board of Directors since 2018. She has led important initiatives for the Association, including overseeing AdvaMed efforts to expand and strengthen global market access for U.S. medtech firms through her leadership of the International Board Committee; work to ensure a safe restoration of elective procedures during the pandemic; and, most recently, leading the Board’s efforts to address disparities in health care access and outcomes reflected in the association’s Principles on Health Equity. She succeeds Abiomed’s former Chairman, President, and CEO Michael R. Minogue.

McEvoy currently leads Johnson & Johnson’s $27 billion Medtech business where she has strengthened its leading portfolio across surgery, orthopedics, interventional solutions, and vision. With a presence in almost every operating room in the world, and in more than 75 million procedures annually, Johnson & Johnson Medtech is driving patient-centric innovation around the world.

Ashley and the global Johnson & Johnson Medtech team were recognized by Fast Company as one of the most innovative companies of 2022. Ashley was also recently honored as one of 50 individuals named to Forbes’ inaugural CEO NEXT list and was ranked #1 on the Top 25 Women Leaders in Medical Devices list by The Healthcare Technology Report. She ranked #41 on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women List in 2019 and was named a Woman of Achievement in 2020 by the National Association of Female Executives for her dedication to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

McEvoy said: “It’s an exciting time for the medtech industry, and I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as Chair of the AdvaMed Board of Directors. I’ve seen the impact AdvaMed has had on advancing policies that improve patient access to safe, effective, and innovative medical technologies and know we will continue to advance that mission. As Chair, I will build on the work of my predecessors to imagine new ways to improve patient health and elevate the standard of care through innovation, industry growth, and improved access for the patients we serve.”

The medtech association said McEvoy was unanimously elected by the AdvaMed Board of Directors at its quarterly meeting yesterday.

As is tradition for the incoming Chair, McEvoy shared with the Board her primary areas of focus during her upcoming two-year term. In addition to supporting AdvaMed’s Innovation Agenda to improve patient access to innovative new medical technologies, McEvoy said she will work with the Board and AdvaMed membership to:

• Build a more resilient healthcare system through policy enhancement and improved supply chain operations,
• Drive digital transformation in medtech through ethical policies that promote the responsible use of data, and
• Ensure the medtech industry reflects the patients it serves through programs that increase diverse representation and continue to improve diversity in clinical research.

AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker said of McEvoy: “Ashley McEvoy’s leadership across her long career in medtech and as a member of AdvaMed’s Board has prepared her well to lead the medtech industry as Board Chair. Her focus on helping to build a more resilient healthcare system, driving digital transformation, and making an impact for patients will help set our industry on the right path following the challenges of the pandemic. I know I speak for the entire Board when I say we look forward to a bright future for AdvaMed and the industry with Ashley at the helm. I look forward to working with her and the Board to help our companies to continue doing what they do best—improving and saving patients’ lives.”

Whitaker said of Minogue: “Mike became Chair in the middle of the pandemic, a tough time for this country and our healthcare system, and without question his leadership helped keep our industry strong and steady as it worked to meet the demands of the crisis. His focus on ‘Patients First,’ his efforts to improve the diversity of our industry, including helping our vets through Medtech Vets to find meaningful work in the medtech field, have left behind a legacy we will continue to build upon. I thank him for being a great friend—to the Board, to me, to the entire AdvaMed team.”

When Minogue became Chair of the AdvaMed Board, he said he planned to strengthen the association’s and industry’s focus on patients and the impact AdvaMed companies make in patients’ lives, and that he would build upon outgoing Chairman Kevin Lobo’s leadership and successful work to improve inclusion and diversity throughout the industry, with the added component of expanding the recruitment from our nation’s military veterans. As Chair, he also oversaw the negotiation and enactment of MDUFA V, which Whitaker called a “historic” agreement that “[set] the stage for a new era of innovation in health care, ensuring greater predictability, consistency, accountability, and communication between FDA and the medtech innovators who are changing the way patients seek and receive life-saving care.”

Minogue became a member of the AdvaMed Board of Directors in 2007 and a member of the Board Executive Committee in 2009, during which time he has served on several committees, including those overseeing membership, inclusion and diversity, payment policy, ethics, and international policy. In 2011, Mr. Minogue was elected as the first Chairman of the newly created Emerging Growth Company Council, which later became AdvaMed Accel, the division within AdvaMed dedicated to the needs of smaller medical technology manufacturers. Mr. Minogue served as the Chairman of the Accel Board of Directors until 2014. In 2012, Mr. Minogue and AdvaMed co-founded MedtechVets.org, and he served as Chairman until 2019.

Minogue served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Abiomed from 2004 until Abiomed was acquired by Johnson & Johnson late last year. Before that, he spent 11 years with General Electric Medical Systems, where he held numerous leadership positions and was awarded three patents. Mr. Minogue also served as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army, with multiple distinctions including Airborne, Ranger, Desert Storm Veteran, and Bronze Star. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering management from the United States Military Academy at West Point and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

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“Participants Thank Raimondo for Commerce Focus on Chips Shortage, Urge Administration to Take Specific Steps to Address Challenges Facing Medtech, Patients”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Scott Whitaker, President and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), led a meeting of medtech CEOs and leaders with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to discuss semiconductor chip supply chain issues impacting the industry. Whitaker was joined by top medtech leaders from Hologic, BD, ResMed, Royal Philips, GE Healthcare, Boston Scientific, Stryker, and Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company.

“We thank Secretary Raimondo for her leadership on the chips shortage, and for the opportunity we had to discuss this potential crisis on behalf of the patients our industry serves. Semiconductor chips are crucial to our industry and to the countless patients who depend on the medical technologies we produce,” Whitaker said during the meeting. “In this challenging environment, we simply cannot compete with larger players to gain access to chips, particularly given the fact that we’re only 1 percent of the total market—and it’s precisely because we’re only 1 percent of the total market that we believe the prioritization of the medical technology industry can be done with minimal disturbance to the rest of the economy.”

Whitaker went on to urge the Biden Administration to take two concrete steps to address the semiconductor chip challenges facing medtech companies: “First, we urge the Administration to use any and all tools at its disposal to ensure the continuity of patient care in this country. And second, we urge the Administration to send a clear and unambiguous message to chips manufacturers and distributors that our health care system must be prioritized, and ensure full transparency for future allocations to our industry.”

“Screenings for breast cancer have decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.  At a time when women are being urged to return to their preventive health screenings, ensuring a sufficient supply of semiconductor chips to manufacture and maintain the thousands of mammography systems throughout our country is critical to preventing delays in diagnosis and treatment,” said Stephen P. MacMillan, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hologic.

“The work we are doing on Secretary Raimondo’s Advisory Committee for Supply Chain Competitiveness is advancing solutions to address the unprecedented raw material shortages, transportation bottlenecks and labor challenges we are all experiencing,” said Tom Polen Chairman, CEO and President of BD. “BD is committed to delivering on the promise of smart devices and connected care for patients but that requires ensuring semiconductor chips are available for medical technology. Now more than ever, we must continue to work together, across industry and government, to deliver long-term solutions that protect the continuity of health care in the US and around the world.”

“What we are seeing now is a humanitarian emergency in medtech, and especially in respiratory medicine. Patients are suffering because medical device manufacturers are struggling to get the parts they need to help serve patients and support their healthcare providers. Semiconductor chips are ResMed’s number-one bottleneck for sleep apnea devices and ventilators, and we’re pleading that chip manufacturers and distributors do the right thing and increase the priority for our medical technology, so that together we can help save lives,” said Mick Farrell, CEO of ResMed.

“We have to fight every day to obtain even a fraction of the computer chips we need to produce life-saving medical systems and devices such as the imaging systems we manufacture to enable minimally-invasive heart treatment, or the patient monitors we produce for intensive care units and emergency departments. This is resulting in significant production delays at a time when high-tech medical equipment, which millions of men and women in the U.S. depend on for the delivery of quality care, is in high demand. Given the current severe shortage of chips we therefore need to act now and prioritize chip allocation to vital medical systems and devices,” said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips.

AdvaMed members’ top priority is ensuring the continuity of patient care. To that end, the organization created a Supply Chain Task Force, which has highlighted several best practices that have emerged during the pandemic amidst supply shortages, such as activating dual sources, building redundancy into their operations (i.e., qualifying alternative parts), redesigning and requalifying product configurations and expanding inventory and factory capacity. In addition, member companies have gone to extreme lengths to communicate deep into their supply chain, often reaching out to their suppliers’ suppliers about the nature and criticality of the technologies for which the chips are destined.

In April, AdvaMed submitted comments to the Department of Commerce’s request for information on ways to support a strong domestic semiconductor industry.

From the comments submitted by AdvaMed: “We recommend that the [Department of Commerce and National Institute of Standards and Technology] assess the healthcare industry’s requirements for mature and advanced semiconductor chips. Currently, the medical devices industry is largely reliant on mature chips to operate their technologies. While that may change over time, it is critical that the U.S. government supports R&D and growth in this sector, and, most importantly, that it has a clear picture of our nation’s health technology needs, with particular focus on essential semiconductor chips and their market allocations.

“In addition to the proposed programs outlined in the RFI, AdvaMed recommends that Commerce establish a program or office in partnership with key agencies including FDA and HHS/ASPR that evaluates financial assistance, R&D, supply chain transparency, workforce, and other needs as it relates to the evolving infrastructure requirements of the U.S. healthcare system. This program or office could provide input into the overall process from the perspective of addressing our nation’s public health and the well-being of patients. As a key part of this effort and for the reasons outlined above, we also strongly recommend a formal mechanism for regular high-level industry consultations to ensure the U.S. government receives timely information on the semiconductor needs of the medical device industry and can act appropriately to stave off future, unnecessary shortages that could impact patient care.” 

Despite being less than 1% of the overall semiconductor chip market, manufacturers of medical devices and diagnostics rely on semiconductor chips for a vast array of technologies. These include but are not limited to capital equipment such as imaging systems, diagnostic assay systems, instrument sterilization equipment, and robotic surgical systems, patient monitoring systems (glucose, oxygen levels, blood pressure, etc.), cardiovascular care such as EKG, pacemakers and defibrillators, respiratory care such as ventilators and CPAP, orthopedic implants and a broad spectrum of technology enabled systems and applications in the healthcare delivery system.

Over the past year, the chips shortage has become an acute industry-wide issue for the hundreds of diagnostics, therapeutics, and capital equipment companies that produce essential medical technologies that support patient health. As the semiconductor supply chain challenges continue, shortages stemming from allocations and decommits by chips manufactures, suppliers and brokers have disrupted medical technology manufacturing and the delivery of patient care.

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AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) recently responded to the Department of Commerce’s request for information on ways to support a strong domestic semiconductor industry. AdvaMed continues to call for the federal government and chips supply chain partners to prioritize the delivery of patient care by ensuring that medical device manufacturers receive the chips they need to continue operations.

From the comments submitted by AdvaMed: “We recommend that the [Department of Commerce and National Institute of Standards and Technology] assess the healthcare industry’s requirements for mature and advanced semiconductor chips. Currently, the medical devices industry is largely reliant on mature chips to operate their technologies. While that may change over time, it is critical that the U.S. government supports R&D and growth in this sector, and, most importantly, that it has a clear picture of our nation’s health technology needs, with particular focus on essential semiconductor chips and their market allocations.

“In addition to the proposed programs outlined in the RFI, AdvaMed recommends that Commerce establish a program or office in partnership with key agencies including FDA and HHS/ASPR that evaluates financial assistance, R&D, supply chain transparency, workforce, and other needs as it relates to the evolving infrastructure requirements of the U.S. healthcare system. This program or office could provide input into the overall process from the perspective of addressing our nation’s public health and the well-being of patients. As a key part of this effort and for the reasons outlined above, we also strongly recommend a formal mechanism for regular high-level industry consultations to ensure the U.S. government receives timely information on the semiconductor needs of the medical device industry and can act appropriately to stave off future, unnecessary shortages that could impact patient care.”

Despite being less than 1% of the overall semiconductor chip market, manufacturers of medical devices and diagnostics rely on semiconductor chips for a vast array of technologies. These include but are not limited to capital equipment such as imaging systems, diagnostic assay systems, instrument sterilization equipment, and robotic surgical systems, patient monitoring systems (glucose, oxygen levels, blood pressure, etc.), cardiovascular care such as EKG, pacemakers and defibrillators, respiratory care such as ventilators and CPAP, orthopedic implants and a broad spectrum of technology enabled systems and applications in the healthcare delivery system.

Over the past year, the chips shortage has become an acute industry-wide issue for the hundreds of diagnostics, therapeutics, and capital equipment companies that produce essential medical technologies that support patient health. As the semiconductor supply chain challenges continue, shortages stemming from allocations and decommits by chips manufactures, suppliers and brokers have disrupted medical technology manufacturing and the delivery of patient care.

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AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) submitted a response to the Department of Commerce’s request for comments on the risks in the semiconductor supply chain. In the letter, AdvaMed, which represents more than 400 medical device companies, presented recommendations for the Administration to prioritize patient care in addressing the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage and other supply chain challenges.

From the letter: “Even as the Medtech industry has proven nimble and adaptive, avoiding disruptions in the delivery of patient care, the ongoing shortages which are predicted to go on well into next year present an unsustainable situation for our industry. Medtech is only a sliver of the overall chips market, but it is undeniably a critical sector that supports our national security. While the expansion of the domestic industrial base for chips is a welcome initiative that AdvaMed fully supports for long term supply chain resilience, it is critical that policy makers and chips supply chain partners work together to ensure that delivery of healthcare in America is not disrupted in the near term. Accordingly, we look forward to working with the Department of Commerce, the interagency and key private sector partners to raise awareness about the unique and critical needs of our sector and explore ways that chips for medical uses are prioritized over non-essential uses.”

AdvaMed’s Supply Chain Task Force members have highlighted several best practices that have emerged during the pandemic amidst supply shortages, such as activating dual sources, building redundancy into their operations (i.e., qualifying alternative parts), redesigning and requalifying product configurations and expanding inventory and factory capacity. In addition, member companies have gone to extreme lengths to communicate deep into their supply chain, often reaching out to their suppliers’ suppliers about the nature and criticality of the technologies the chips are destined for.

Despite being less than 1% of the overall semiconductor chip market, manufacturers of medical devices and diagnostics rely on semiconductor chips for a vast array of technologies. These include capital equipment such as imaging systems, diagnostic systems, and robotic surgical systems, patient monitoring systems (glucose, oxygen levels, blood pressure, etc.), cardiovascular care such as EKG, pacemakers and defibrillators, respiratory care such as ventilators and CPAP, orthopedic implants and a broad spectrum of technology enabled systems and applications in the healthcare delivery system.

AdvaMed recently commissioned a study by Deloitte to better understand the use of semiconductor chips in medical devices and the impact of the chip shortages on the sector. The study found that the chips shortage is not confined to one organization or one technology, rather it’s becoming an acute, industry-wide issue for the hundreds of diagnostics, therapeutics, and capital equipment companies that produce essential medical technologies. Combining insights from a survey and interviews with members of AdvaMed, Deloitte revealed the following findings:

• Two-thirds of companies have semiconductors and firmware/embedded software in over half of their products. In addition, 50 percent of respondents report that connected devices, which also require semiconductors, comprise half of their products.
• The medical device industry’s primary needs are 2^nd or 3^rd generation chips, placing it in competition with automotive, industrial, and consumer industries for critical chips rather than high tech.
• All respondents have experienced some disruption to their chip supply chain. The most common disruptions are delays, order cancellations and short orders. Delays vary significantly, from two to 52+ weeks.

Read the full letter to the Department of Commerce here.

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AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and digital health technologies that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.

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