Utah's Medtech Industry Surging

That Utah has a thriving medical device industry is no longer a surprise. But even with names like Edwards Lifesciences, Merit Medical Systems, and Nelson Laboratories on rosters of the state's employers, it may be a surprise to learn that, on a per-capita basis, Utah is actually first in the nation in medical device manufacturing, according to 2012 numbers published in Economic Review by the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah).

Researcher Brigham Mellor of EDCUtah says, "This industry has exploded over the last few years in Utah. Since 2007, employment in medical device manufacturing has gone up in the U.S. 25.54%; however, in Utah it has gone up a whopping 6,300%!" According to Mellor's figures, which looked at the "medical appliance technician" job classification, 0.91 of every 1000 jobs in the Salt Lake City metro area was in the medtech sector. This compares favorably to the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA, hub's 0.27 per 1000. The state has more than 600 firms in the life sciences space, about 100 of which are medical device companies.

As the metro area with the highest concentration of medtech in the country, Salt Lake City and its suburbs play host to some heavy hitters. Among those are Medron Inc., which develops and manufactures disposable medical products, Nelson Laboratories, a provider of microbiological and quality assurance testing; MasterControl, which provides medical device software solutions; Myriad Genetics Inc., a leading molecular diagnostics firm; and Moog Medical (formerly Zevex), which offers contract manufacturing and lab services.

The Salt Lake City metro area is also home to divisions of C.R. Bard, and Becton Dickinson Medical. Merit Medical Systems, a worldwide designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices used in interventional and diagnostic procedures, makes its headquarters in South Jordan. Earlier this year Edwards Lifesciences announced it will be doubling its workforce in Draper to about 1000. These new positions will fill roles in areas such as engineering, manufacturing and administration, said Edwards' Janet Kim.

But not all roads lead to Salt Lake City. Down in Provo, for example, FlexLeg LLC makes a hands-free crutch alternative for temporary lower-leg injuries such as a broken ankle. According to the company, the specially designed composite foot is the only major component of the device manufactured outside of Utah. And up in Ogden, Fresenius Medical Care manufactures dialysis and related equipment.

All this success did not occur in a vacuum. The University of Utah (Salt Lake City) hospital and medical school are known for medical device innovation, particularly in orthopedics and cardiovascular devices. The university has a program, the Center for Medical Innovation, to encourage collaboration with industry and to commercialize innovations developed by students and faculty. The university's bioengineering department conducts interdisciplinary basic and applied medical-related research, concentrating on the study of artificial organs such as the heart-lung machine, artificial hearts and heart-assist devices, and dialysis machines.

The Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development considers Life Sciences a targeted industry. The Utah Technology Council and Utah Science, Technology, and Research (USTAR) partner with the University of Utah and Utah State University to continually spin out new medical device companies, as many as a dozen each year. The state's new life science association, BioUtah, in November hosted the fourth annual Utah Life Science Summit, the premier event for Utah's life science community. The event attracted leaders from industry, academia and government, along with representation from about 100 companies within the state's life science industry.

So the Beehive State is simply buzzing with medtech activity, and it's no wonder. Though it has fallen to No. 3 in 2013, Utah was No. 1 on Forbes' Best States to Do Business in 2010, 2011, and 2012. And oh, yes... All that spectacular scenery is still there.