If everything you know about the medical device industry in Minnesota comes from what you read in the newspapers or see on TV, you might think that there are only four Minnesota companies doing business in the market: 3M, Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, and Boston Scientific, which recently acquired Guidant.
But those companies are only part of the story. The innovations of small to midsize medical device firms in Minnesota are changing the industry. While the top-tier medical device manufacturers generate over $20 billion a year in revenue, putting a dollar amount on the revenues of small to midsize medical device companies is more difficult because many of them are private and don’t report their revenues, or their revenue comes from a combination of medical and nonmedical products.
“The small and medium companies have become major sources in early stages for research and development, i.e., really points of innovation for both the biomedical sector and for larger companies,” says Don Gerhardt, CEO of LifeScience Alley, a trade association in St. Louis Park representing medical and bioscience organizations.
There have been fortunes made in Minnesota in medical investments.
According to the Minnesota Trade Office, there are 520 FDA-approved medical device companies in Minnesota. About 80 percent of these companies have fewer than 50 employees. The Internet System for Education and Employment Knowledge is a Web site that provides Minnesota career, employment, and business information and is sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Education and other state offices. It reports that about 36,500 Minnesotans work in the health care–device and equipment industry: 23,100 in electronic instruments manufacturing and 13,400 in medical equipment and supplies.
Curt Miller, president of St. Paul–based Micromedics, a manufacturer of surgical instruments and devices for the ear, nose, and throat, says there aren’t a lot of medium-sized companies in the medical-device industry. “There’s a big gap between the big companies and the rest in the medical market,” he says. “There’s a few really big ones and a lot of really little ones.” Micromedics employs 70 people.
But small to midsize companies in Minnesota are making products that are improving medical procedures and therapies, and are less expensive invasive than previous options.
Their Own Devices
“There are well over 1 million people a year who go to emergency rooms with chest pain. They think they’re having a heart attack or have had a heart attack,” says Jay Miller, president of Vital Images, a Minnetonka-based developer of three-dimensional imaging software for cardiologists, radiologists, and oncologists.
When that happens, patients typically undergo a 20-hour battery of tests to determine if they’ve had a heart attack. The testing could include drawing blood, a stress test on a treadmill, an ultrasound, and having a catheter inserted into a armpit or groin and snaked through an artery to the heart to see if there are any blockages. Jay Miller says he wants to replace this battery of tests with a less invasive method.
