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Venture capital group forms medical innovation lobbying group

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – The National Venture Capital Association, other venture capital firms and portfolio firms are teaming up to form a lobbying group focused on medical devices.

The Medical Innovation and Competitiveness Coalition, or MedIC, will lobby on behalf of life science firms in Congress.

Beth Seidenberg, a general partner at the venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, will chair the group. She holds a medical degree.

“Medical innovation is a significant contributor to our national goal of increasing access to healthcare, improving the quality of medical care, and creating high quality jobs,” Seidenberg said in a statement. “Yet until now, innovation has been largely absent from the public discussion on healthcare reform.”

The group’s three goals as spelled out by the NVCA:

• “Bring the importance of medical innovation to the forefront as the country implements healthcare reform

• “Establish new and preserve existing incentives for investors and entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize medical innovations in the U.S.

• “Achieve broad-based F.D.A. reform”

“MedIC will address the rising concern that the U.S. is at risk of losing our leadership position in innovation and job creation due to increasing uncertainty in the regulatory and reimbursement processes, healthcare reform implementation and the capital markets,” Seidenberg said. “If we don’t act now our increasingly formidable global competitors will.”

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