Medical Device Incubator in the Works at Georgia Tech

Georgia Institute of Technology, colloquially known as Georgia Tech, plans to develop an incubator aimed at nurturing the next generation of medical device companies.

The move is part of a broader expansion by the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a 30-year-old business technology incubator that has produced several Atlanta, Ga.-based tech companies including Suniva Inc., CardioMEMS (now part of St. Jude Medical Inc.) and Vendormate.

ATDC’s plan includes opening multiple satellite offices in midtown Atlanta, where it will focus on building startups in niches, such as microelectronics fabrication, advanced manufacturing and clean tech, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

By creating industry-focused incubation space, the ATDC hopes to create a cluster of like-minded startups that can feed off each other. The ATDC will provide customized space adjacent to existing Georgia Tech research centers that will have special equipment, laboratories and loading docks.

The medical device industry is a focus area for economic developers because it is fast-growing and well-paying. Georgia is home to 122 device manufacturing companies, which collectively employ more than 3,500 people, according to the 2012 Shaping Infinity report. Medical device manufacturing, which represented 23 percent of the state’s life-sciences industry jobs, increased employment by 7.2 percent between 2007 and 2010.

The 2,500-square-foot medical device incubator will be located across the hallway from the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a 12,000-square-foot prototyping design and development facility to accelerate commercialization of new medical devices and technology. GCMI houses design, material and mechanical engineering resources, such as high-end 3-D printing, extrusion and computer numerical control machines, capable of producing medical devices for development, pre-clinical testing and clinical studies.

The medical device incubator, which will host four to six startups, will help create a critical mass of new companies around local universities, including Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory University. This will help attract outside investors and industry to the region.

The medical device incubator will be located inside a 100,000-square-foot former paper mill that also houses Georgia Tech’s School of Applied Physiology, GTRI offices and student workspaces.