Jabil opens medical device lab to foster innovation

The world’s largest healthcare manufacturing solutions provider has positioned St. Petersburg as a hub for innovation in the multibillion-dollar minimally invasive medical device industry.

​Jabil Inc. recently opened a new Advanced Catheter Development Lab at its St. Petersburg headquarters. The facility’s on-site design, development, prototyping and testing capabilities will help university researchers, entrepreneurs and manufacturers meet an increasing global demand for minimally invasive products.

​Catheters are thin, flexible tubes used in various medical procedures. Ramy Awad, technical lead for Jabil, said the “very rare” lab will “absolutely” help cement the region’s status as an industry leader.

​“Having all of this equipment underneath one roof is what makes it very attractive for medical device innovators,” Awad told the Catalyst. “If anyone has funding to develop a device – or has a new idea – this lab can make it for them.”

​Jabil created the lab in collaboration with the University of Florida and the University of South Florida. The facility opened Dec. 5 inside the company’s innovation center.

Fernanda Figueiredo, vice president for leadership initiatives at Select Florida (left), and Dr. Cynthia Johnson, director of Pinellas County Economic Development, get an up-close look at new catheter tubing during a tour Dec. 5.

Researchers and businesses will have access to specialized tools used to develop advanced minimally invasive devices, including braiding and coiling, laminating, laser cutting, balloon forming and bonding. Awad said the equipment is “very expensive” and rarely found in one location.

Awad noted that many industry innovators are practicing physicians or surgeons who apply real-world experiences. “They don’t have a way of making the device,” he explained. “They don’t even know where to start.”

​Jabil’s technology specialists will assist with product development. Stakeholders can then test the devices at an adjacent failure analysis lab.

​Mike Mahaz, senior vice president of global business units, healthcare at Jabil, said Advanced Catheter Development Lab’s launch “represents a significant capability expansion” for the company’s technology center in St. Petersburg.

​Jabil, along with our collaborators, is focused on investments in support of medical advances that are making procedures less invasive, more precise and – most importantly – leading to better outcomes for patients,” Mahaz said in a prepared statement.

​Fostering new industry innovations will benefit Jabil once products gain commercial acceptance and partner businesses scale. Awad said the overarching goal is to “capture the market way before” hospitals, outpatient clinics and surgical centers adopt the devices.

​“Then you’re locked in a lot earlier, and you can scale with that company,” he added. “Or if they get bought by somebody else, we’re the manufacturer to begin with.”

​A grant from the State of Florida partially supported the lab’s development. Awad said collaborating with UF and USF will create a pipeline of academic innovations and expertise that improve health outcomes and patient care.

​“Great results come from coordination among the state, universities and private companies like Jabil,” said David Norton, vice president for research at UF. “The lab will help us take great ideas and turn them into reality with prototypes and testing that prove their performance and manufacturability.”

​USF Provost Prasant Mohapatra said combining “manufacturing excellence with high-impact research” would deliver “life-changing solutions.” He called the facility another example of Florida continuing to “set the standard for healthcare innovation.”

​The expansion is part of Jabil’s ongoing efforts to bolster its healthcare sector. The Fortune 500 company acquired Pharmaceutics International, Inc., in February to augment its existing pharmaceutical solutions and help customers develop new drugs, complete clinical trials and commercialize products.

​Jabil has also built new medical device sterilization facilities in Memphis and the Dominican Republic. Mahaz said the St. Petersburg lab will “support universities and major healthcare brands in advancing catheter development and meeting the growing demand for these important tools.”