DTW Podcast: Geoff Martha updates Medtronic’s new course; AJAX CEO Duke Rohlen is funding innovation differently

Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha and Ajax CEO Duke Rohlen share insights and wisdom on this episode of the podcast.

Less than a year into his role as CEO, Geoff Martha and the Medtronic leadership has overseen a significant reorganization of medtech’s largest player.

In our closing keynote conversation, Martha says the company is clearing a minor COVID-19 bump and sees open road for the company to continue to grab share from competitors.

Martha details what products are gaining the most traction while also identifying those that still have some ground to gain.

We also discuss: When it may bring its renal denervation project to the FDA Why Hugo the surgical robot will be worth the wait (and why development has taken more than a decade) Whether or not Medtronic will collaborate more with private equity firms, early-stage incubators and maybe even SPACs? What will the company’s acquisition strategy look like in 2021. And why. Why the price-cutting for drug-eluting …
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Medtechs can’t set digital strategies aside – DTW Podcast

Digital connectivity no longer belongs in the final slides of a medtech company’s pitch deck.

In the latest DeviceTalks Weekly podcast, three leaders pushing for connected medical devices explain the need to incorporate data collection and monitoring functionality in new devices.

Scott Huennekens, who advanced the “digital surgery” strategy when he helped launch Verb Surgical, says new medtech tools must be connected to provide maximum benefit.

“If you’re making a device, you have to understand and build into it how it will be connected for that episode of care as as well as how it fits into the continuum of care,” Huennekens said in an interview with the DeviceTalks Weekly Podcast. “It just has to be part of the way you’re thinking.”

Verb Surgical, of course, is now part of Johnson & Johnson’s surgical robot product line, Ottava, which the company unveiled last year.

In a separate interview on the podcast, Mark Toland, the former CEO o…

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CEO Ryan explains how Cala Health is building bioelectronic medicine business

In this week’s episode of DeviceTalks Weekly, Tom Salemi, editorial director of DeviceTalks events and content, visits with Renee Ryan, the CEO of neuromodulation startup Cala Health.

Ryan came to Cala from the venerable medtech investor Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., where she made over 15 investments helping to create companies including Auris Surgical, Cala and digital surgery play Verb Surgical, J&J’s joint venture with Verily. “I really set my mind to [asking] was there a way we could create our own opportunities,” she said of her eight years as the corporate investor.

We ask Ryan about her move into medtech investing from investment banking as well as the  “secret power” that helped her succeed as an investor and an executive.

We’ll also discuss the unique commercial strategy Cala is employing as it begins rolling out its Cala Trio, a bioelectronic device developed to treat essential tremor.

 

What role will tech comp…
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