• Massachusetts has one of the best-educated labor forces in the nation, ranking first in the nation for college attainment.[i]
• More than half of medical device workers need college educations.
• Science and engineering are especially strong fields for Massachusetts, with the state regularly achieving the highest concentration of science and engineering graduate students.[ii]
• Productivity in Massachusetts medical device manufacturing exceeds the industry average, reflecting the state’s high skill level and research focus.
• Massachusetts received 15.6% of Small Business Innovation Research awards from 1990 to 1998, more than six times the state’s share of population.[iii]

• National Institutes of Health research funding for Massachusetts totaled $1.48 billion in fiscal year 2000, second only to California.
• Massachusetts leads the nation in per capita NIH funding, outpacing the next highest state, Maryland, by 52%.
• Much of this funding is concentrated in Boston and Cambridge, which together drew 49% more NIH funding than New York, the second-ranked city, in fiscal year 2000.
• The top five independent hospitals to receive NIH support in fiscal year 2000 are all in Massachusetts. [iv]
• More than 10% of venture capital funding for the medical devices industry is regularly destined for Massachusetts.[v]
• Massachusetts hospitals and universities provide a rich source of research. Between 30 and 40 percent of their licenses and joint ventures are with in-state companies.
• More than half of the $200 million in research money at the University of Massachusetts goes to the UMass Medical Center, while Massachusetts General Hospital conducts $250 million in research annually.

• Large healthcare industry accounts for more than 10% of the state’s employment base.[vi]
• Massachusetts ranks first in the number of doctors per 100,000 population.[vii]
• Two of the top fifteen hospitals in the United States are in Massachusetts. Twelve Massachusetts hospitals are nationally ranked in specialty areas.[viii]
• Massachusetts exports hospital services. Nearly 37,000 out-of-state residents generated more than $662.1 million in charges in 1998.[ix]
• Large network of teaching and research hospitals is a valuable resource for testing new devices. Both Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have been approved as sites for trial implantations of Abiomed’s artificial heart.

More than 260 medical device manufacturing establishments in Massachusetts employ more than 20,000 workers and ship $4 billion in products.

Largest Medical Device Companies

[Companies ranked by 1999 medical device sales]

1. Boston Scientific Corp.   
2. Philips Medical Cardiac & Monitoring Systems 
3. Smith & Nephew Inc. (Endoscopy Division)
4. Haemonetics Corp.         
5. Analogic Corp.
6. Hologic Inc.
7. Nova Biomedical Corp. 
8. Cytyc Corp. 
9. Inverness Medical Technology Inc.
10. Zoll Medical Corp.  

Organizational Resources

Recent Developments