Medtronic Launches Extended Facility in its Largest R&D Centre Outside US In Hyderabad

The expanded facility will include a digital therapy and innovation lab, connected care lab, platform and tech lab, systems engineering lab and software lab, said Medtronic.

Leading global medtech company Medtronic on Thursday launched its Medtronic Engineering and Innovation Center (MEIC) in Hyderabad. This is the largest R&D centre of the company outside the US.

The campus was inaugurated by Medtronic chairman and CEO Geoff Martha in presence of Telangana Industries and IT Minister D Sridhar Babu and US Consul general Jennifer Larson.

Started 75 years ago in a garage in Minneapolis, Medtronic over the years has grown to become a Fortune 500 medtech company with 95,000 employees worldwide in 150 countries.

In 2020, Medtronic had rolled out a blueprint of expansion of its Hyderabad research and development (R&D) centre into its second largest research hub.

The project is a part of its commitment to invest more than $350 million (around INR 3,000 Cr) over the period of five years.

The project is expected to create additional 950-1500 employment opportunities.

Underscoring Telangana’s leap in becoming a favoured destination for global healthcare technology companies, D Sridhar Babu said that the centre stands as a beacon of innovation dedicated to collaborative innovation, training, education and immersive experiences, all aimed at shaping the future of healthcare technologies.

“The presence of MEIC in Hyderabad is a testament to Hyderabad emerging as a hotspot for medtech innovation. The state government is fully committed to fostering this growing culture of innovation in the state and will work towards marking Hyderabad on a global map as an ideal destination for both medical devices manufacturing and research and development. We are equally thrilled to support Medtronic's growth and look forward to their contributions in the state and country in healthcare innovation,” he said after inaugurating MEIC.

Capacity of the Expanded MEIC

With the new centre spread over sprawling 1 Lakh sq ft, Medtronic’s largest capacity outside the US boasts of 2.5 Lakh sq ft space.

The expanded facility will include a digital therapy and innovation lab, connected care lab, platform and tech lab, systems engineering lab and software lab, said Medtronic, in a press statement.

Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha said that the company’s R&D team in India will play a crucial role in Medtronic’s global product development.

Commenting on the development, Divya Prakash Joshi, VP and Site Leader, MEIC said, “MEIC supports many global business units of Medtronic to provide software engineering solutions and other engineering expertise in the areas of embedded and enterprise software, product security, data engineering, systems engineering, mechanical and hardware design, and quality and regulatory.”

How GoI Policies are Boosting Medtech R&D in India?

India has implemented various initiatives and policies to boost research and development (R&D) facilities in the medical technology (medtech) sector. Some key initiatives include:

National Policy on Research and Development and Innovation in Pharma-Medtech Sector which was launched to catalyze innovation in local medical device production.

Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-Medtech scheme which was Aimed at fostering research and innovation in the sector.

Additionally, the National Medical Device Policy was released to encourage investments in 5G and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) for boosting innovation.

Assistance to Medical Device Clusters for Common Facilities was aimed at supporting the development of common infrastructure near clusters of medical device manufacturers.

The government also launched the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme to incentivize manufacturing and boost job creation.

Promotion of Medical Device Parks scheme was also launched to encourage the establishment of medical device parks to attract supply chain partners.