A new video game pediatric ADHD treatment has opened the door for other such novel therapies to come to market using the less stringent 510(k) pathway, as interest in such products have gained significant steam over the past few years.

An undergraduate class in abnormal psychology and a lifelong interest in technology helped to set Michael Hufford on a career path that now includes the co-founding of five companies. As CEO of Harm Reduction Therapeutics, a nonprofit pharmaceutical company, Hufford hopes to make a cheap, OTC version of naloxone widely available to help prevent unnecessary deaths from opioid overdoses.

Developers of new ophthalmic products are thinking outside of the box. A raft of new gene therapies are progressing in the clinic, including a gene therapy paired with biomimetic goggles. Elsewhere, technology players are partnering with traditional biopharmaceutical companies and bringing algorithms, machine learning and microelectronics to bear on eye disorders and disease diagnostics.