Eyeworld

EW MEETING REPORTER 58 June 2014 Third annual OIS opens with innovation highlights The ophthalmic space has shown impressive progress, including a diversity of innovations in the pipeline, according to William J. Link, PhD, co-chair of the 3rd annual Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) @ASCRS, in his opening remarks that started the day-long event. "Innovation in the field of oph- thalmology is vibrant and is making a difference," said Dr. Link, manag- ing director of Versant Ventures. "It's exciting to see the networking and collaboration in these meetings." This year's meeting had 350 attendees from 17 countries and 26 states. Dr. Link said the OIS meet- ings "fuel growth in this field" and are the "lifeblood of addressing unmet needs" in ophthalmology by bringing a diverse group of represen- tatives of the ophthalmic commu- nity together. Companies showcase innovations In the Private Ophthalmic Compa- nies Showcase, innovations of 10 companies were represented. In "Review of the Ophthalmology Innovation Cycle" following the showcase, Dr. Link outlined the current financing environment in the field. He said that while ophthal- mology remains one of the most active sectors in the device space, there has been a steady decline in the number of investments and amount of money invested from 2007 to 2012. However, the IPO market could be potentially strong into the future, especially in biotechnology, he said. After a session on issues in the innovation cycle, a panel led by Dr. Link and Marguerite McDonald, MD, Lynbrook, N.Y., addressed the difficulties of innovation and ways in which it can fail. Panelist James Mazzo, operating partner of Versant Ventures, said that his experience in both big corporations and smaller start-ups has shown him that the greatest failure in innovation is when innovators do not have the courage to realize when their prod- uct has failed or been killed, both when it is not working or not properly funded. "Fail fast, fail early, and that's the greatest success," he said. "The passion to innovate is what drives us to innovate," said Sabri Markabi, MD, chief medical officer and senior vice president of R&D for Alcon. OIS Innovator Award presented to CEO This year's OIS Innovator Award was presented to Mark Forchette, president and CEO of OptiMedica (Abbott Medical Optics, Santa Ana, Calif.). Mr. Forchette was inspired to enter the business field by a chance meeting with Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's, when he was a teen. Reporting from the 2014 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress in Boston Reporting from the 2014 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress in Boston Attendees register for the 2014 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress. a Novartis company Sponsored by 58-65 MR-ASCRS_EW June 2014-Dl2_Layout 1 6/3/14 12:43 PM Page 58

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