ANN ARBOR — MichBio, the association for Michigan’s biosciences industry, will welcome hundreds of bioscience researchers, manufacturers, executives and service providers to its Conference and Expo Jan. 18 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo.
This bio industry event is sponsored by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., and is the largest gathering of bioscience industry professionals in the state.
Said Stephen Rapundalo, president and CEO of MichBio: “We’re switching to a single-day format with provocative general sessions and in-depth breakout tracks, that will provide valuable information for everyone who attends, as well as a superb opportunity for networking.”
The theme for this full-day event is “Connecting Technology, Health, and Well-Being,” featuring keynote speaker, Alec Melkonian, senior vice president of Klick Health, who will provide perspective on the “Top 10 Trends in Digital Health” and what that revolution means for early-stage to mid-stage bioscience companies. Klick Health is the world’s largest independent digital health agency and is based in Toronto.
The Conference and Expo will focus on healthcare delivery, technology connectivity and more. The morning general session will feature healthcare providers and payers discussing the changing healthcare delivery paradigm, how technology is being integrated to improve patient outcomes and experience, and their expectations of innovators to develop new products. A second session will focus on today’s capital markets, from early-stage to mid-market, and that means for company growth, mergers and acquisitions, and overall bio-industry growth, not only in Michigan, but globally.
“We always strive to feature not only conversations about today’s hot topics, but also tomorrow’s opportunities, all brought by the highest caliber of speakers, many of which are prominent leaders in their respective fields,” Rapundalo said. “Year over year, attendees have said that MichBio brings the best in quality and substance to its annual conference. We want to keep that tradition intact and encourage our bioscience community and others to join us for another exciting program.”
Attendees will hear directly from Michigan-based leaders and senior executives in the “C-Suite Insights” session on the state of bio-industry and their views on doing business in a global bioscience economy.
The event will also include bio-business growth and digital health tracks in the afternoon with sessions on:
* Pricing Wars: Value-Based Innovation for Better Health – The debate about value-based medicine and how bioscience companies should evolve their product development and marketing to meet the expectations of patients, payers and providers.
* Leadership Imperative: Diversifying the Biosciences C-Suite – how companies are trying to diversify their senior management ranks and why it makes good business sense.
* Innovating for Patients, Building Companies for Consumers – what are biopharma and medical device companies doing to integrate digital health into their products to better connect with patients.
* Digital Health Technology Showcase – four up-and-coming digital health companies based in Michigan will showcase their exciting and transformative technologies and products.
MichBio will once again offer a college program for students and faculty. The session will feature a spectrum of industry professionals, from CEOs to technicians and HR to business development, who will talk about the current bio-industry environment in Michigan, opportunities for employment, skillset requirements for employer consideration, and much more, all as an interactive dialog.
The Good to Great, Innovator of the Year and Legislator of the Year award recipients will also be announced at the conference.
Attendees will have the opportunity to visit the Innovation Exhibitor Hall, where bioscience companies and service providers will be showcasing their products and services. Details can be found at www.michbio.org/expo/showcase. Scheduled exhibitors include: Biotechnology Innovation Organization, E.M.M.A. International Consulting Group, Drug & Laboratory Disposal Inc., NSF International, Performance Validation, PharmOptima and SRI International.
The event agenda includes more than four hours of designated networking opportunities for attendees including an evening reception featuring a strolling dinner and live entertainment with the theme “Bio, Blues & BBQ.”
More details about the MichBio Conference & Expo are available at www.michbio.org/MichBioExpo.