Healthcare consulting company Dohmen Life Science Services held their first Entrepreneur Summit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they brought together over a hundred life sciences industry executives to discuss the future of healthcare. 3D Systems’ Andy Christensen and Organovo’s Keith Murphy both spoke to the attendees about their companies’ roles in the future of medical 3D printing.
The invitation-only Entrepreneur Summit held last month at the Harley Davidson Museum was a forum for Medtech, Pharma and Biotech industry professionals to network, hear about new technology and consider new ways of doing business. Dohmen LSS is a consultancy firm that helps medical technology companies eliminate waste, become more efficient and determine what advancements they should pursue and integrate into their businesses.
“The U.S. pays double every other country on healthcare, nearly three trillion dollars annually, and yet we aren’t scoring as well on life expectancy and other key health metrics as countries paying half what we do per person,” said Dohmen CEO and Dohmen Life Sciences Services President, Cynthia LaConte in her opening remarks. “The industry has spent too much time and money on bringing undifferentiated products to market. A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that over half of all drug approvals over the last 10 years received approval without demonstrating any tangible benefit to the patient. The convergence of genomics, disruptive technology, more efficient regulatory approval pathways for breakthrough therapies and consumer empowerment will allow the industry to shift from a volume driven paradigm to one that puts patient well being at the center of development and rewards for value.”
Organovo CEO Keith Murphy was on hand to speak about the new advancements in the bioprinting of living tissue and recent advancements in regenerative medicine. Murphy believes that bioprinted tissue will replace animal testing models, and can eventually even be grown to patch or repair damaged organs and tissue.
3DPI.TV spoke to Murphy at the recent Inside 3D Printing Santa Clara Conference where he talked to us about what Orgonovo is working on. Here’s the video:
3D Systems’ VP of personalized surgery and medical devices Andy Christensen told the summit attendees about how 3D printing is giving patients access to medical treatments that they would not have had available to them just a few years ago. He specifically spotlighted the work being done in developing nations with inexpensive 3D printed prosthetic devices.
The President and Chief Operating Officer at Quintessence Biosciences Laura Strong found quite a bit to like about the event, saying “It was a fantastic, high quality event for Biotech executives, with a program that managed to take us from big, strategic concepts such as being authentic leaders to the gritty details about where to find capital.”
Dohmen has decided to hold the summit annually, and considering the rapid advancements in medical 3D printing and bioprinting, future events are going to have to make a lot more room for 3D printing companies.
