EuroMedtech™ 2012 Partnering Forum in Grenoble to Jump-Start Collaborations in the Rapidly Evolving Medtech Industry

ZURICH & GRENOBLE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The fourth annual EuroMedtech™ 2012 partnering conference to be held in Grenoble, France May 31–June 1, 2012 at the Convention Center of the World Trade Center Grenoble will bring together leaders and decision makers from the international medical technology industry eager to participate in one-to-one partnering meetings. The conference is focused on providing collaboration opportunities to medtech decision makers and investors, and features EBD Group's sophisticated, web-based partnering system, partneringONE®. At last year's conference in Torino, Italy, 261 delegates representing 205 companies from 27 countries engaged in 741 one-to-one partnering meetings.

“This is an exciting time for medical device companies aiming to expand collaborative partnerships into new and diverse markets,” said Carola Schropp, President, EBD Group. “The trend of healthcare decentralization is creating significant opportunities for medtech companies. The migration of medical technology from core hospital labs to specialty care units, doctors' offices and homes promises much more widespread access to healthcare services—to people in developed and developing nations alike. This creates rich new opportunities to develop win-win partnerships across the medtech value chain that can be discovered and facilitated at EuroMedtech 2012.”

The event enables delegates to efficiently identify, meet and do business with attending companies, from large international medtech companies and just launched start-ups, to venture capitalists and private equity firms. Delegations from Canada, Denmark and Sweden's Medicon Valley and Turin, Italy have already confirmed attendance.

“The 2011 EuroMedtech experience in Torino, Italy, confirmed what the event is for: establishing early stage collaboration with investors, and giving companies opportunities for new markets,” said Alessandro Barberis, President of the Torino Chamber of Commerce. “With a 14% increase in the number of meetings from the previous year, EuroMedtech has proven to be an unmissable event for highly innovative and competitive medical technology, as well as for financial and pharmaceutical industry, to gather and boost new businesses. I'd like to add that it was a remarkable territorial marketing experience for our city, highly appreciated by all the participants."

“Canada is building on our strengths as a strong economy and leading competitor in scientific progress and technology, and our delegation is eager to partner with global life sciences clusters at EuroMedtech in order to further our engagement in international markets,” said Sandrine Caduc of the Embassy of Canada to France, Office of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada. “The conference provides us access to key partners in technological innovation and investment, and will ultimately broaden our joint research and development opportunities.”

This year's program features several panels attuned to the needs of a changing market, including Thursday's workshop “From the ground up: Keys to emerging company commercialization,” which provides insight on commercialization and reimbursement strategies to young companies, and another workshop on “Choosing the right distribution model.” Friday's panels “Shifting sands: Regulatory developments in uncertain times,” and “The missing piece of the puzzle: How diagnostic companies can transform healthcare delivery,” are designed to help companies navigate the changing regulatory climate and focus their collaborative growth strategies to transform healthcare provision.

Innovative companies interested in partnering their technologies or products, initiating strategic alliances, or tapping into the international financing network are urged to present. The application deadline to submit an application to present is March 9, 2012 and application details can be found online at http://www.ebdgroup.com/emt/presenters/prs_app.php.

Register for the conference by March 30, 2012, 13:00 CET to save EUR 200, after which all registrations will be handled on site. Information on the conference and registration details can be found online at http://www.ebdgroup.com/emt/registration/index.php.

For more information about EuroMedtech, go to www.ebdgroup.com/emt.

Additional links and information:

partnering360: www.partnering360.com

Follow EuroMedtech 2012 on Twitter: twitter.com/EuroMedTech (hashtag: #EMT12)

LinkedIn Event site: http://linkd.in/vCy2Db

About Regional Host Sponsor

Grenoble, France is the home of the Grenoble Health Cluster, whose mission is merging micro and nanotechnology, information technology, and physics with medicine. In addition to their historical leadership in deep brain stimulation technology using intelligent implantable medical devices, Grenoble is a leader in computer assisted medical interventions such as robotic stereotactic neurosurgery, total prosthetic knee replacement, biopsy of the prostate, and brachytherapy for prostate cancer. Grenoble's growing medtech leadership is supported by the 5,000 biomedical technologies students from the famous Joseph Fourier University (UJF) and Grenoble Institute of Technology (INP). Grenoble's teaching hospital ranks tenth in France in terms of treatment, and is home to three outstanding European Photon & Neutron facilities: The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group's partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.

EBD Group's conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:

• BIO-Europe® and BIO-Europe Spring®, Europe's largest life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
• BioPharm America™, the fastest growing partnering event in North America
• EuroMedtech™, EBD Group's partnering event for the innovative medical technology industry
• BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO
• ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, the first dedicated biotech/pharma partnering conference in China, co-produced with ChinaBio® LLC
• Partnering for Global Impact®, a new partnering conference providing an innovative forum to partner, identify and generate social and philanthropic investment and funding opportunities
• Biotech Showcase™, a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors

EBD Group's sophisticated web-based partnering service, partneringONE®, is used as the partnering engine at numerous third-party events around the world, and partnering360® is the open online community of life science dealmakers that enhances partnering experiences at industry events.

Outside of the conference format, EBD Group's consultants provide hands-on assistance for firms seeking to in- or out-license products and technologies. EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.

For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com.