Bill Hawkins’ new role, new startups & new marketing (Weekend Rounds)

A review of life science current events reported by MedCity News this week:

— Medtronic’s Bill Hawkins will remain at Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) in an advisory role for one year after stepping down as chief executive officer. In return, he’ll receive $3.8 million in separation pay.

— Heart defect device maker Mardil, a new Minnesota startup, is trying to raise up to $12 million for a device that treats sloppy mitral valves short of doing open-heart surgery. Mardil is near the starting line of companies creating new innovative medical devices for the structure heart valve market. The field is dominated by companies like St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ).

— Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) recently renewed a key drug distribution contract with Walgreen Co. But that only reinforced a longstanding issue for analysts: how heavily reliant Cardinal is on its top two customers. Cardinal’s dependence on its Big Two leaves it “vulnerable” primarily in two ways, according to Matthew Coffina, an equities analyst with Morningstar in Chicago.

— Everyone — including sports teams — need to take part in healthcare marketing strategies. The Cleveland Browns don’t pay a second’s worth of tribute to today’s Cleveland, which is a medical city not a manufacturing one.

— Personalized medicine holds a lot of promise. Ohio State University Medical Center looks well-positioned to reap the rewards. Five years ago, OSU established the Center for Personalized Health Care, which is dedicated to education and research to advance personalized medicine. Earlier this year, OSU joined the Seattle-based Institute for Systems Biology to create the P4 Medicine Institute, another organization aimed at advancing the field.