Chamber Hosts BioCrossroads Forum

The Warsaw/Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce and the BioCrossroads life sciences initiative hosted the Entrepreneurial Forum in Warsaw Tuesday.

This is the fifth forum BioCrossroads has sponsored, with support from the Indiana Future Fund professional management firm of Credit Suisse, since April 2005.

The event featured presentations from major original equipment manufacturers Biomet, DePuy and Zimmer. Also present were Paragon Medical and two start-up companies, Solstice Medical and Mogul Enterprises.

Joy McCarthy-Sessing, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Kosciusko Development Inc., welcomed nearly 100 representatives from major medical device companies and start-ups in the Warsaw area and other corporate, academic and community representatives.

Wade Lange, with BioCrossroads, facilitated the presentations and defined the purpose of the meeting as looking for "gaps in emerging orthopedic technology."

David Johns, president and CEO of BioCrossroads Indiana Future Fund, said, "This isn't just about Indianapolis and central Indiana. The market opportunity is already here (in Warsaw)."

The first to present was Zimmer. Kevin Greig, director of emerging technologies at Zimmer, spoke of Zimmer's $3.29 billion in sales, operating margins, current and future focus and partnering possibilities in the areas of biologics, sports medicine, spine and trauma and unique reconstruction. Greig said, "We seek opportunities to add to our competencies."

Joseph Kuranda, director, business development, presented for DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. DePuy's products include hip and knee reconstructive implants, trauma products, orthobiologic implants and operating room products. Its sister orthopedic companies include: DePuy Codman, DePuy Mitek, DePuy Spine and DePuy CMW. He spoke of the makeup of the $23 billion annual worldwide orthopedic sales and cited the following factors in "where we think it's going": favorable demographics and pursuing global scale; focusing on key-decision makers; emerging market opportunities; and adjacent segments, such as early intervention, implant options, biologics and revision solutions.

Shon Steeger, manager of business development with Biomet, explained Biomet's entrepreneurial start in orthopedics in 1977. He said, "We're looking at value-creation opportunities. We have a history of acquiring companies. Now, we're looking at technology licensing partners rather than acquisitions and a narrow potential product range."

Daniel Sands, Warsaw, is the founder, president and CEO of Solstice Medical. Solstice looks for market opportunities in "what is needed." Their target market for Dock-to-Docª and radio frequency identifier technology is medical device OEMs. RFID is used to provide real-time device information and tracking of medical devices deployed in multiple locations simultaneously. The company is headquartered in the Northeast Indiana Innovations Center, Fort Wayne.

Jay Scherbenske, Mogul Enterprises, gave the history of the company started by Jamil Mogul in San Jose, Calif., in 1997. The company was incorporated in California in 1999, and will be incorporated in Delaware as Mogul International LLC. The company currently is relocating to the Northeast Indiana Innovations Center, Fort Wayne. Their focus is in market-reading products and others in R&D.

Toby Buck, chairman and CEO of Paragon Medical Inc., headquartered in Pierceton, provided "local flavor from the outside looking in." The company was incorporated in 1991, and in 1992, they began manufacturing cases and trays or "glorified tackle boxes for surgeons." Paragon's growth recently included the acquisition of six companies, including Hand Industries. Buck said, "We'll continue to focus on what we know - on dominant market segments. We're looking to complement existing markets."

The final presenter was Dr. Tim Ovaert, professor of biomechanical engineering at Notre Dame, who gave a research update. He said, "All the departments in the College of Engineering are involved with some degree of bioengineering research." The new 25,000-square-foot bioengineering and research building on the South Bend campus will open in July.

For more information, call the Chamber, 574-267-6311.