Medical Technology VCs Are Optimistic About Obama Administration's Health Care Goals at Elsevier Business

BOSTON, MA, Jul 01 (MARKET WIRE) --
Elsevier Business Intelligence announced today that leading venture
capitalists who participated in the keynote panel discussion which
kicked-off its annual 'IN3 East' strategic partnership and investment
meeting are optimistic about the effect that the Obama administration's
health care goals will likely have on the medtech industry.

"Generally speaking, medical devices as a category are not likely to be
targeted... and it is likely to be part of the solution, in my view," said
Paul LaViolette, Venture Partner, SV Life Sciences(TM). "The
less-invasive revolution is going to continue for a long time. It is a
means by which to provide cost-effective care. There are huge categories
of disease that can be positively affected by this. Large companies are
not going to innovate, generally speaking. They are still going to need
venture-backed vitality to drive the engine of growth in devices. So I
think we need a little bit of stabilization in the concern about what the
health care system (reform) will entail. I think... devices as a general
space will be healthy, and that the venture-backed model is going to be
absolutely requisite in that (paradigm)."

Mr. LaViolette also echoed other panelists regarding his perspective about
the drought in medtech IPOs. "It a lot harder to innovate diversification
than it is to acquire it," said Mr. LaViolette. "So if you talk to the
leaders across the device industry -- and I do that routinely -- every one
of them contends that they will be more active on the M&A side over the
next three years than they have in the last three years... I think it's
nice to have an IPO market, but that's not really a hugely vital part of
the exit strategy for most categories (of medical technology), and I don't
think that (an IPO market for devices) matters that much."

The next IN3 Medical Device event sponsored by Elsevier Business
Intelligence -- IN3 Investor Day & Summit -- will be held in San Francisco
on October 19-21, 2009, at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins hotel. The
annual IN3 Investor Day & Summit is the West Coast's largest strategic
partnership and investment meeting for hundreds of senior-level medical
technology executives, investors and emerging medtech companies. For more
information, or to register, contact Kristy Grimes at 480-985-9512,
888-290-2225 (U.S. toll-free), or email k.grimes@elsevier.com.

Contact:
Ronald Trahan, APR
Ronald Trahan Associates Inc.
508-359-4005, x108

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