Florida Man Manufactures Medical Device – Sunshine State Health Technology Review

Florida is more than just the home of alligators and presidential candidates. The state was recently named the fourth largest “medical device state” in the U.S., after California, Minnesota and Massachusetts. It was estimated to rank third in “total health technology employment, with nearly 24,000 jobs, and rank seventh in total revenue generated in the sector, at $6.09 billion.” Florida was recently recognized as having the “second largest pharmaceutical manufacturing industry” and “fourth largest biotechnology research and development industry.”

Alligator ticks provided by DDP Medical Supply of St. Petersburg, Florida

Several regions stand out for their local medical device industries. Beckman Coulter, BD Biosciences and Cordis (a Johnson & Johnson company), among others, are reported to have a presence in Miami-Dade County. Medical device companies or divisions reported to be located in Northeast Florida include Johnson & Johnson Vision, Zimmer Biomet CMF and its Thoracic division, KLS Martin Group (surgical instruments), Treace Medical Concepts (metatarsal surgical interventions) ) and Healogics (wound care).

Additionally, the region around Orlando was reported to have the 14th largest medical device employment base in the US. Examples of companies in this area identified by the local business development group include Amber Diagnostics (radiology equipment), Invacare (home medical/mobile products), IRadimed (MRI technologies), Lensar (cataract lasers), Persona Medical (hearing health), Rotech Healthcare Inc . (home respiratory equipment) and Orthomerica (orthotics and orthodontic appliances). Additionally, the Tampa area is reported to include Smith & Nephew (soft and hard tissue technologies), AdaptHealth (home health), Probo Medical (ultrasound probes) and AxoGen (vestibular nerve repair).

The state also has companies in the general life sciences field. For example, medical device, biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical companies with a presence in Florida reportedly include Arthrex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Noven and Steripack.

However, the state is perhaps best known for its medical device manufacturing capabilities. Florida was recognized as having the “second largest medical device industry in the country.” Additionally, Florida is reported to be among the top states in “number of FDA-registered medical device manufacturing facilities.”

With the global medical device manufacturing industry “expected to grow more than 5 percent annually and reach nearly $800 billion by 2030,” the future of this industry in the Sunshine State could be bright.