Georgia: international center for medical devices [Feb. 2012]

GEORGIA: INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR MEDICAL DEVICES

Georgia offers the medical device industry:
World-class resources to design, prototype, manufacture and test new products
Thriving existing industry
Talented workforce
Unsurpassed transportation and logistics network
Generous business incentives
World Class Resources
Georgia's academic and research environment supports the commercialization of innovative technology. The Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a collaboration between the Georgia Institute of Technology, Saint Joseph's Translation Research Institute (SJTRI), Piedmont Health System, and Georgia Research Alliance, are unique assets in the Southeast. GCMI is a state-of-the-art product development center that accelerates medical innovations from concept to market.
Examples of programs that support innovation include:
Georgia Institute of Technology's Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2)
Emory University's Office of Technology Transfer
Georgia State University's Technology and Commercialization Development Program
The University of Georgia's Technology Commercialization Office
Georgia Health Sciences University's (GHSU) Office of Technology Transfer
Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)
Georgia Research Alliance VentureLab Program

The concentration of this industry in Georgia draws experienced executives and a network of professional support.
The Georgia Bioscience Commercialization Center (GBCC) is a centralized "no fee" support entity for commercializing bioscience innovation in Georgia. The center has developed a faculty of experienced bioscience executives to offer advice and guidance to start-up firms in Georgia free of charge. The GBCC will help guide entrepreneurs to appropriate experts and resources in Georgia.
The Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA) is headquartered in Georgia. SEMDA is a nonprofit trade association designed to promote medical device companies in the Southeast, provide a means for those companies and inventors to network and build community, and support them with resources to grow.
EXISTING INDUSTRY
Georgia's medical device industry spans R&D startups to well-established companies.

Georgia Department of Economic Development | 75 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 1200, Atlanta, GA 30308 - USA | (+1) 404.962.4000 | Georgia.org

A few examples:
CardioMEMS, which began as a collaboration of a Georgia Institute of Technology electrical engineer and his cardiologist, developed and is marketing proprietary wireless sensing and communication technology for the human body. Current applications include monitoring of abdominal aortic aneurysms and congestive heart failure.
Given Imaging, whose North American headquarters is located in metro Atlanta, is a world leader in GI medical devices. The company pioneered capsule endoscopy, now the gold standard for small bowel visualization. More than one million patients worldwide have benefited from the PillCam Platform capsule endoscopy.

LOGISTICS
Georgia maintains a transportation and logistics infrastructure that connects bioscience companies to suppliers, distributors, and customers worldwide via air, ground, and ocean. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has non-stop flights to 89 international cities in 55 countries. Georgia's nine general-purpose Foreign Trade Zones across the state provide seamless transport, reducing delays, and in some cases, eliminating tariffs on imported items.
BUSINESS INCENTIVES AND SERVICES
To help reduce a company's operating costs, Georgia has targeted financial incentives and services available:
R&D Tax Credit
Quality Jobs Tax Credit
Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Qualified Machinery and Equipment
Quick Start Workforce Training Program

Bard Medical has two facilities located in Georgia. Established in 1967, the facilities currently employ 300 people. In the Covington facility, engineering and design work is completed for the Urology, Oncology, and Vascular product lines. It is also the site for the company's marketing and sales divisions. Bard Medical operates a sterilization facility in Madison, Georgia.
Workforce
Many of Georgia's universities provide degree programs and technical education to create a smart, innovative workforce. Best known worldwide and a source of many medical device platforms is the topranked Georgia Tech/Emory Department of Biomedical Engineering. Highly collaborative, the Department combines insights of faculty in engineering and medicine.

For more information, visit georgiabiosciences.com.

2/2012

Georgia Department of Economic Development | 75 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 1200, Atlanta, GA 30308 - USA | (+1) 404.962.4000 | Georgia.org