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The Orthopedic Design and Technology Conference and Exhibition will return to the Grand Wayne Center Oct. 6-8, providing a forum for industry manufacturers and suppliers to showcase new products and learn about federal policy changes.
It will be the fourth year the conference has been held in Fort Wayne. Despite the recession, the number of exhibitors and attendees is expected to increase from last year, said Howard Revitch, group publisher of Orthopedic Design and Technology Magazine, which sponsors the event.
Revitch said more than 80 exhibitors and between 400 and 500 people from across the country are expected to participate. People who work for original equipment manufacturers, like those in Warsaw, will be admitted free of charge.
“People are being very selective with the shows they want to go to,” Revitch said. “We try to go very much through the supply chain (with the sessions).”
Robin Young, founder and president of RRY Publications, will open the event with a discussion of where the U.S. is lagging in the race to innovate in the orthopedics market.
Julie Dykstra, an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg in Grand Rapids, Mich., will speak along with other experts about changes in Food and Drug Administration policy. She said the agency is cracking down on so-called off-label uses, those not specifically intended when the drug or device is approved.
Dykstra said some drug companies have been targeted recently, but medical-device manufacturers also could face enforcement measures.
“The new regulations clarify when a device manufacturer can make label changes,” she said.
Former New York Giants defensive end Leonard Marshall is scheduled to speak about his work with former NFL players and their struggles with the health-care system. Ex-NFL players have many orthopedic problems and most do not have unlimited resources to seek the best care. Marshall is executive director of the Game Plan Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps retired NFL players suffering from neurological and other disorders associated with playing football.
Other sessions covering contract manufacturing and fundraising for product development are scheduled. Seminar tracks on engineering and design as well as orthopedic manufacturing strategies will focus on issues specific to each area.
Fort Wayne-based PearlDiver Technologies Inc., a life-sciences data company, will use the conference to debut a new sales development tool, said Rob Young, executive vice president of business development. The product allows orthopedic and other clients to determine geographic areas where procedures are trending up.
“We’re using (this conference) as a product introduction,” Young said. “In prior years it’s been more a reinforcement of what we do as a company.”
The ODT Conference is scheduled to hold its fifth convention at the Grand Wayne Sept. 21-23, 2010.
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