Perhaps no state is more renowned for medicine than Massachusetts. The Commonwealth is host to leading hospitals, medical centers, and medical device companies that are maturing next-generation technologies. But Medtech enterprises large and small need representatives to ensure that innovations in the space can thrive.
That’s where Brian Johnson comes in. He is President of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC) and on this week’s episode of Making Bright Ideas Work, a Sunrise Labs podcast, he shared insights into his advocacy work.
“We help maintain a healthy environment for medical device innovators,” Johnson said. Medicine is a highly regulated industry so his trade group works with government partners to streamline processes and ensure a healthy ecosystem that fosters innovation.
Whether it’s pushing for the repeal of the medical device tax or staying atop of Brexit and its complications for medical device companies, MassMEDIC is there looking out for its members and the MedTech community as a whole.
“Massachusetts continues to be a robust environment in this space,” he contended and cited Sunrise Labs as one of the leaders pushing Medtech forward. He also works with a number of startups disrupting the industry and advises that novice CEOs should focus less energy on raising money and more on their plan to go from zero to commercialization.
“You need to think about the entire lifespan of this company as a founder,” Johnson said.
As a former company founder himself, Brian feels passionate about helping other founders. It’s why he’s become a personal champion of MassMEDIC IGNITE, which provides the MedTech startup community with training, mentorship, and networking.
“I really love MedTech,” Johnson confessed and said that the innovations advanced by medical device companies are on par with those of the space program.
He is proud and amazed at the medical advances that come out of the Commonwealth. The first surgery with anesthesia was done in Massachusetts and now leading hospitals in the state are performing surgeries using advanced robotics or remote surgeons.