N. Hafer
University of Massachusetts Center for Clinical and Translational Science,
United States
Keywords: medical devices, M2D2
Summary:
The Massachusetts Medical Device Development (M2D2) center offers inventors and small medical device companies coordinated access to research, engineering, and clinical investigation at the UMass Medical School (UMMS) and UMass Lowell (UML) campuses. UMMS provides clinical expertise and access to 40+ research cores, while UML contributes its world-renowned engineering expertise and plastics laboratories, business analysis and planning support, and prototyping and product development services. Corporate sponsors (e.g., Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, Boston Scientific) and service providers with interests in biomedical product development provide access to technical, regulatory, and legal advice, as well as device design and manufacturing services. With this support, M2D2 has helped 111 entrepreneurs secure ~$105M in private investment and $11M in NIH SBIR funding to support a broad array of medical device and biotech innovations. M2D2 has hosted 120 student interns and has provided an annual local economic impact to the city of Lowell alone of $74 million. The success of M2D2 demonstrates our ability to form effective partnerships that allow stakeholders to provide critical input into medical need and product development, engage small companies to bring medical devices and therapeutics to the clinic, connect entrepreneurs to the healthcare system for clinical trials, and provide valuable entrepreneurship experiences for business, engineering, and medical trainees.