Dive Brief:
- Mark Cuban, the multi-billionaire IT entrepreneur, businessman, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball franchise, and "Shark Tank" star, will be hosting an event to spur pediatric healthcare and pharmaceutical innovation, development, and entrepreneurship during the upcoming South by Southwest (SXSW) music and arts festival in Austin, Texas, in March, Xconomy reports.
- The children's health market was estimated to be worth roughly $87.9 billion based on 2010 figures from the Health Care Cost Institute.
- The event, dubbed the Pediatric Health Pitch Day, is being sponsored by Texas Children's Hospital and its counterparts in Cincinnati and Boston, as well as Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. It will be held on March 16 and is part of the SX Health and MedTech Expo.
Dive Insight:
The needs of pediatric patients are markedly different than those of adults, as Xconomy notes. For example, their bodies are smaller, medical devices must often be smaller in order to be implanted and therapeutically effective.
In addition, children metabolize drugs faster than adults and have different pharmacokinetic profiles when compared with adults. SXSW is considered a stronghold of innovative ideas, and for creative entrepreneurs who want to tap into a large and growing market, Pediatric Health Pitch Day is an important opportunity.
Previous healthcare-related guests at SXSW have included the CEO of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki.