As a proud sponsor of the 2026 MassMEDIC Medtech Impact Symposium and Gala, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) joined partners and awardees from across the life sciences community to showcase the collaborations and investments driving meaningful progress for patients on a global scale.
The Symposium brought together ecosystem leaders to explore how the medtech industry can deliver better outcomes while managing costs and sustaining innovation. In the afternoon, the Symposium shifted to three dynamic, concurrent panel tracks that examined the evolving landscape of healthcare delivery. Each panel featured practical, forward-looking dialogue focused on users, enabling technologies, and the accelerating shift in where care is delivered.
MLSC-supported companies and partners played a key role throughout these discussions. Insulet Corporation, a crucial partner of the MLSC’s Pathmaker program and a recipient of multiple Tax Incentive awards, participated in the panel, Everything, Everywhere, All the Time, which examined how healthcare systems balance quality, cost, and access in an increasingly complex environment. Panelists discussed how economic pressures, information gaps, and misaligned incentives continue to influence decision-making across the healthcare system. The MLSC has awarded Insulet with $16.3 million in tax incentives for the creation of 834 jobs.
To date, the MLSC has invested $13.5 million in Pathmaker training organizations across Massachusetts, supporting more than 1,200 training opportunities and connecting graduates with 101 companies across the life sciences sector.
Later in the afternoon, Gentuity, an industry partner of the MLSC’s Bits to Bytes program, joined the panel, Talking Tech: Interventional Systems, where industry leaders shared perspectives on emerging trends and product innovation in interventional medical technologies.
Through the Bits to Bytes program, the MLSC supports companies developing data-driven solutions that are advancing diagnosis and treatment. Over the past seven years, the program has awarded $27.6 million in capital funding to non-profit universities and academic medical centers who have partnered with companies like Gentuity, helping them bring cutting-edge technologies closer to patients.
Rounding out the Symposium, MLSC COO Elizabeth Graham moderated a panel on assistive and autonomous technologies in clinical workflows, joined by leadership members of Johnson & Johnson MedTech – a longtime sponsor of the MLSC’s Massachusetts Next Generation (MassNextGen) Initiative – and Robeauté, a company pioneering a new class of therapeutic microrobots. The discussion explored how tools such as surgical robotics, fully automated technologies, and critical care technologies are transforming care delivery, and examined the growing intersection of human expertise and automation.
Since its founding in 2018, the MLSC’s MassNextGen portfolio has grown to 39 companies, including 19 previous awardees that have raised seed or Series A financing. To date, MassNextGen companies have raised more than $401 million in follow-on funding. Reflecting the program’s strong support for medical innovation, 28 percent of MassNextGen companies are developing novel technologies in the medical device space with the goal of improving patients’ lives around the world.
The day concluded with the Medtech Impact Gala, where the themes of the Symposium were reflected through powerful stories from patients and innovators. The evening celebrated the real-world impact of medical technology and recognized the individuals and organizations working to improve care around the world.
The MLSC was proud to sponsor this event alongside several industry leaders and Tax Incentive awardees, including Insulet Corporation, Optikos, TransMedics, and ZOLL.
Click here to learn more about the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s available funding opportunities, which support companies, entrepreneurs, and talent at every stage of the Massachusetts life sciences industry.
Applications for several MLSC programs are now open, including Pathmaker, and both Impact Catalyst and MassNextGen with a deadline of June 12, 2026, at 1 p.m. EST.
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