SYRACUSE — MedTech Association, a Syracuse–based bioscience and medical-technology (bio/med) trade association for New York firms, will work with a downstate organization to “further develop” the bio/med industry statewide. The association is partnering with NY BioHud Valley on both message promotion and advocacy, MedTech announced in a news release issued April 20. NY […]
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SYRACUSE — MedTech Association, a Syracuse–based bioscience and medical-technology (bio/med) trade association for New York firms, will work with a downstate organization to “further develop” the bio/med industry statewide.
The association is partnering with NY BioHud Valley on both message promotion and advocacy, MedTech announced in a news release issued April 20.
NY BioHud Valley is a cluster-development initiative that Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. formed to establish the Hudson Valley corridor as a “global leader” in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and medical-device industries.
Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. and NY BioHud Valley are located in New Windsor in Orange County, according to their websites.
The organizations will coordinate advocacy interests for state and federal priorities, cross-promote efforts to expand awareness of the industry, and involve each other in future programming, specifically in the Capital Region and the downstate area.
MedTech works to connect New York state’s bio/med sector through collaboration, education, and advocacy, the trade association said.
MedTech and NY BioHud Valley will work on “cross promotion of messaging, events, and programming,” which could include collaboration on MedTech’s 2016 conference, which it is planning for Albany, says Jessica Crawford, president of MedTech.
Crawford spoke with CNYBJ on May 12.
They’ll also work on bio/med industry advocacy, Crawford added.
“We both understand that the industry is a significant part of the economy here in New York state, but it’s important that we have one voice that represents the interests of that industry and advocates on behalf of the industry with our delegation, so working together to do that and working with our companies to try to support some of those efforts … so that’s another area that we are looking … to work together on,” says Crawford.
Tarrytown, N.Y.–based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN), which is associated with both MedTech and NY BioHud Valley, “connected the two organizations,” says Crawford.
“It was a conversation that I had with Regeneron that … moved things forward,” she added.
Regeneron has an “Upstate presence,” with a manufacturing facility in Rensselaer, near Albany, she added.
“Building a stronger life sciences cluster in the Hudson Valley requires tearing down the artificial borders separating regions in order to form compelling alliances with like-minded organizations seeking to accelerate [New York’s] growth in this critical sector,” Laurence Gottlieb, president & CEO of Hudson Valley Economic Development and founder of NY BioHud Valley, said in the MedTech news release.
The downstate region — including the New York City, Long Island, and the Mid-Hudson areas — employs nearly 46,000 in direct bioscience jobs.
Those jobs, through “indirect and induced effects,” contribute about 128,000 total jobs across the state’s economy.
“I think it’s really important that we leverage those assets and try to work together as one to advance our industry,” says Crawford.
Industry report
MedTech cites its own industry report, “Bio/Med Breakthroughs: 2014 Bio/Med Industry Report,” in providing the bioscience-job figures, according to its news release.
The trade association released the report at its MedTech2014 conference, says Crawford. It held the event Sept. 15 in Albany and Sept. 16 in nearby Troy.
MedTech describes drugs and pharmaceuticals as the “most prevalent industry subsector in New York” with a concentration “that is 8 percent greater than that seen nationally.”
The association cites upstate New York, where the medical-device sector is 26 percent more “concentrated” than the national average.
Statewide, the more than 75,000 bioscience workers earned $5.7 billion in total wages and salaries in 2012, which translates into an average annual wage of $76,112, MedTech said.
The bio/med sector in New York has a total compensation impact of $16.8 billion (including direct, indirect and induced impacts), producing $62.6 billion toward the gross state product, the association added.
