Ireland's Medtronic to further tap market with new innovation center in Chengdu

Ireland's Medtronic Plc, a global leader in medical technology, announced the official opening of its Chengdu Innovation Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province, marking its ongoing efforts to invest in China and help the country better meet medical resource needs.

The establishment of the center makes China the only market in the world that runs two Medtronic innovation centers, demonstrating the company's emphasis on the Chinese market, as well as its commitment to expanding the country's access to quality healthcare.

Medtronic said that the Chengdu Innovation Center will serve as a cross-disciplinary clinical training platform to support the growth and development of medical professionals in central and western regions to further improve local healthcare services and balance medical resources across the country.

Geoff Martha, chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic, said: "I could not be more thrilled to mark the new center's opening and our continued investment in building local innovation capabilities and accelerating medical technology development in China. The center is another milestone underscoring how we can work together to bring more accessible, quality and efficient healthcare solutions to the region. It will be key in realizing the outcomes of our continued commitment and delivering on our mission to improve patients' lives through innovative technologies."

According to Medtronic, within five years of operation, the new center will plan an annual training capacity of approximately 7,000 healthcare professionals. The first class at the center－a training course designed for Chinese cardiologists－took place on Sunday.

Specifically, with a surgical operating room of over 450 square meters, three digital substraction angiography catheter laboratories, one renal dialysis training lab and one neuroscience training room, the center aims to train medical professionals through a "real-world" surgical environment.

According to the company, so far the center offers clinical training in the fields of minimally invasive surgery, cardiovascular, renal, spinal, orthopedic, neurosurgery－which it will keep updating based on local medical needs and development of medical technologies. By leveraging its global network of innovation centers, Medtronic will also facilitate communications between medical professionals and institutions from all over the world.

Alex Gu, senior vice-president and president of Medtronic Greater China, said that medical devices require close cooperation with clinicians.

"We design cutting-edge medical equipment, the doctors learn how to use them, they offer feedback and we work on the feedback to improve the equipment. This is a virtuous cycle," Gu said.

Cao Junjie, vice-mayor of Chengdu, said: "The biopharma industry is booming in the world. In Chengdu, we take this industry as a pillar sector in our strategic planning and development emphasis. It is hoped that through this cooperation with Medtronic, and with other leading research institutions, the scale and capacity of the medical device industry cluster in Chengdu can be improved. As a result, we can successfully promote the interconnection of medical resources within the region to further foster the development of the local health ecosystem."

Yu Jing, vice-president of the cranial, spinal and orthopedic technologies department at Medtronic China, said that medical resources in east, west, and central China are unbalanced, with resources mainly concentrated in first-tier cities. There is a huge supply gap in grassroot-level regions.

"By offering training to grassroots medical professionals, we hope to popularize general clinical skills to actually improve the overall healthcare service level of China's medical institutions, and better satisfy patient needs, especially those in grassroots regions," Yu said.

Wang Chikun, an independent economist, said, "Multinational corporations' setting up their innovation centers in China is an inevitable trend, and it will help the companies better reach the market."

Gu pointed to China's efforts in optimizing its business environment for MNCs and attracting foreign investment.

"China is set to become the world's largest and most vibrant healthcare market," said Gu.

"Medtronic will continue to work with partners to address the country's unmet medical needs and grow with Chinese medical professionals, with the aim to eventually expand access to quality healthcare and better serve our patients," he added.