Next Phase Newsletter

By Claire Jeong, Director of Research, Asia BD, LSN

RESI Philadelphia is less than 3 weeks away, and as with all of our previous conferences we will be featuring the “Medical Device Investors” panel. Out of the 4 main sectors represented at RESI (therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health), medical devices are the second most dominant. The types of technologies can range from novel biomaterials for various applications including drug delivery systems and tissue engineering, surgical devices with high potential to disrupt currently available procedures and standards of care, home-use devices that can be used by patients outside a professional care facility, etc.

The investors who will be at RESI bring forth various perspectives and strategies on investing in and partnering with medtech companies. Given the early-stage focus of RESI, we even see investors and strategic partners who welcome partnering meetings with those as early as pre-prototype. Here are the 5 panelists who will be joining the Medical Device Investors Panel at RESI Philadelphia:

• Ibraheem Badejo, Sr. Director, New Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation
• Matthew Cohen, Director of Technology, Pangaea Ventures
• Ronald Dorenbos, Head, Innovation Management & Scouting, Takeda Pharmaceuticals
• Bryan Grulke, Partner, Volcano Capital
• Shahram Hezaji, Partner, BioAdvance

The panel will run from 2:00 – 2:50 pm on the day of RESI Philadelphia, Monday, June 3^rd, 2019. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Ibraheem Badejo, Sr. Director, New Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation

Ibraheem (Ib) leverages his expertise in smart materials and biomaterials to support the medical device sector of Johnson & Johnson. From 2010 to 2013, Ib was a Research Fellow at Global Surgery Group of Johnson & Johnson, where he was responsible for external and front-end innovations and intellectual property for Ethicon Biosurgery. Previously, he was the Chief Scientist of Closure Medical Corp, and has held positions at Bayer, North Carolina State University, and the College of Charleston. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University.

Ibraheem has led teams in the development of biomaterials-based products and new technology / products licensed or acquired. Ib received his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Toledo. Ib received the Science Alumni Award, Avila University in 2014.  Ib is also the recipient of 24 US patents, and is well published in many peer reviewed journals.

Matthew Cohen, Director of Technology, Pangaea Ventures

Matthew Cohen brings experience and a passion for working with advanced materials and medical devices in both industry and academia. Prior to joining Pangaea Ventures, Matthew worked in established and startup companies involved in printed electronics utilizing nanotechnology, biotechnology, and environmental bioremediation. He performed various functions that included R&D, business development, product development, customer technical support, and international launch strategy creation while gaining valuable start-up understanding.

Matt holds an MPhil in Micro- & Nanotechnology Enterprise from the University of Cambridge and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BSE in Materials Science & Engineering.

Ronald Dorenbos, Head, Innovation Management & Scouting, Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Ronald is Head of Innovation Management & Scouting at Takeda as well as Associate Director at Takeda’s Materials & Innovation team, a group that scouts for new technologies related to drug delivery and biomaterials. During his appointment at the Life Science division of PA Consulting Group, a British Consulting firm, Ronald led projects for some of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies around strategy, commercialization and digital health. At his company BioFrontline he provides management, strategy and commercial advice to life science companies around the world. Ronald received MAs in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology and after obtaining a PhD in Pharmaceutical Biology spent six years at Harvard to study Parkinson’s, Schizophrenia and the genetics of aggressive behavior before making the transition to industry. Ronald is a keen follower of developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and regularly invited as speaker to present on topics related to pharma, healthcare and AI.

Bryan Grulke, Partner, Volcano Capital

Bryan Grulke is a Partner at Volcano Capital, an early stage health care venture capital firm based in New York City.  Volcano Capital focuses on the medical device sector and has made 15+ investments to date.  Prior to joining Volcano Capital, Mr. Grulke worked as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company and in the corporate strategy group at Philips International. Mr. Grulke graduated from Harvard Business School and Duke University, summa cum laude with a BS degree in Economics.

Shahram Hezaji, Partner, BioAdvance

Shahram Hejazi, Ph.D., is a life science investor & entrepreneur. Over his 25+ year career, Shahram has invested and/or directed more than two dozen startups.  Since 2008, he has been a Partner with BioAdvance, where he serves on the Boards of 6 portfolio companies and is responsible for leading investments in medical devices, diagnostics, digital health. Shahram has also been on the faculty of Princeton University, since 2014. Previously, Shahram was the president of Kodak’s life science division, and before that, he was the founding CEO of Zargis Medical Corporation (a Siemens’ spin off). Prior to that, Shahram was the Global Head of the Strategic Business Development at Siemens Medical. Shahram is also the Chairman of the advisory board of Integral Molecular Inc., and the Chairman of PPDC at CHOP. Shahram has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and an executive business education.