Medical Innovation Xchange Collaborates with Province of Ontario to Help Fight COVID-19

MIX will provide medical manufacturing advisory services to non-medical manufacturing companies that have received government funding to retool facilities and produce medical supplies and equipment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaboration will help companies navigate regulatory challenges, avoid preventable mistakes in quality compliance, and accelerate timelines of delivering medical supplies and products to meet immediate and future patient and health system demands.

May 19, 2020 14:55 ET | Source: Intellijoint Surgical

KITCHENER, ON, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX), the Ontario-based medical technology hub where ideas and advice are exchanged to help domestic medtech startups scale and succeed in Canada, today announced a collaboration with the Ontario Government in the fight against COVID-19. MIX will offer free advisory services to Ontario Together Fund recipients and companies that have received Purchase Orders from the Province to help increase efficiency with provincial resources, navigate regulatory challenges, avoid preventable mistakes in quality compliance, and accelerate the timelines of delivering medical supplies and products to Ontario in order to meet immediate and future patient and health system demands.

Advisory services will be provided by MIX CEOs and the employees of their leading Canadian medical technology companies including Intellijoint Surgical Inc., Vena Medical Inc., Penta Medical, Bloom Care Solutions, Conavi Medical Inc., KA Imaging Inc., Exact Imaging Inc., Emmetros Limited, NERv Technology Inc. and 7D Surgical Inc. MIX advisors have decades of experience in developing, building, and commercializing medical technologies that have benefited hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide and offer domain expertise in medical device engineering, ISO 13485 compliance, Health Canada licensing, operations and post-market surveillance.

“With the Province announcing stage 1 of re-opening and potential vaccines showing early promise, we’ve had some good news this past week,” said Armen Bakirtzian, CEO of Intellijoint Surgical and founder of MIX. “We started MIX with the simple promise to ‘pay it forward.’ With the first wave behind us, we must be better prepared for what’s next. As restrictions are lifted and Ontario returns to work, our healthcare system will be tested again.  In order to help keep our frontline workers, healthcare professionals, and communities safe, the time is now to build additional critical supplies. MIX advisors currently help young domestic medical technology companies navigate the specific challenges in the healthcare sector, so we are uniquely positioned to help domestic non-medical manufacturing companies facing similar challenges as they accelerate production of medical equipment and supplies to meet both short-term and long-term demands.”

On March 21 Premier Doug Ford launched the Ontario Together web portal appealing to Ontario’s manufacturers, entrepreneurs and innovators to provide essential supplies and equipment to support frontline workers in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. To-date more than 17,000 proposals have been submitted to the portal and on May 6 the Province announced Oakville-based Virox Technologies Inc. is the first manufacturer to receive money from the $50 million Ontario Together Fund.

“Ontario has always found its strength in working together,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “During these unprecedented times, Ontario’s business community has stepped up their efforts to help tackle the fight against COVID-19. Our government’s collaboration with Medical Innovation Xchange members is a prime example of how Ontario is working with our innovative business community to solve problems and build a safer environment for Ontario’s health care facilities. Through the Ontario Together initiative, we can support supply chains, ensure the growth of medical technologies in our province and ultimately, be better prepared for the future.”

Domestic medtech companies interested in joining MIX to volunteer services for this effort are also encouraged to contact MIX.

For more information on this initiative, please visit the MIX website.

ABOUT MEDICAL INNOVATION XCHANGE

Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX) is Canada’s first industry-led hub dedicated to helping medical technology startups scale successfully in Canada. Spearheaded by anchor tenant Intellijoint Surgical, MIX was created to reduce the barriers and bridge the resource gap that medical technology startups face as they move from along the entrepreneurial journey from idea generation to commercialization. Our vision is a thriving ecosystem that develops, attracts and retains Canadian medical technology companies and establishes Waterloo Region as a leader in medical innovation. The mission behind MIX is to provide a collaborative environment for medical technology companies that supports their individual growth and adds to the overall success of the growing local ecosystem.

ABOUT INTELLIJOINT SURGICAL

Intellijoint Surgical^® develops and commercializes surgical navigation solutions for total joint replacements. It is committed to improving patients’ lives by providing every surgeon with effective, easy-to-use technology. Intellijoint’s technology has been used in over 15,000 total joint replacement procedures by top orthopaedic institutions globally.