Upstate Hosts SEMDA Medical Device Conference

Hundreds of industry executives from medical technology, device and diagnostic companies will gather this week in Greenville for the Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA) 2018 MedTech Conference.

The group is meeting for its first time ever in Greenville, offering the opportunity to showcase our region’s burgeoning life sciences community.

“Past SEMDA conferences have been held in Atlanta and Nashville, and the conference’s location here is a strong indicator of the level of life science activity occurring in the Upstate,” says Marc Metcalf, Upstate SC Alliance Business Recruitment Officer. Metcalf also serves on the Board of Directors for SCBIO, a statewide, not-for-profit public/private life sciences industry association.

In the last five years, bioscience companies have announced $295 million in capital investment and 2,354 new jobs within South Carolina’s Upstate.

“On the consumer side, life science companies are rife with innovation and provide solutions that enable us to live better, longer lives,” Metcalf adds. “From the perspective of economic development and career opportunities, these companies provide high-caliber work opportunities with higher than average wages.” 

Growing sectors include medical device manufacturing, with companies such as Abbott, Milliken, and Cardinal Health; clinical research conducted by regional healthcare organizations; and pharmaceutical manufacturing such as Capsugel (now a Lonza company) and Nutra, a contract manufacturer and private labeler of dietary supplements.

Recent life science announcements in the Upstate include a $69 million investment by Arthrex, Inc., a global orthopedic medical device company that is constructing a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Anderson County. The company will create 1,000 new jobs.

Prior to the conference, the Upstate SC Alliance is welcoming a group of global site consultants to participate in “An Upstate Showcase.” Visiting life sciences consultants will have the opportunity to visit with Upstate bioscience industries, see the Arthrex site in Anderson County, and tour the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville and the Clemson University Biomedical Engineering Innovation Campus.

“Here in the Upstate, we’ve experienced a creative, collaborative business environment where promising ideas can be fully explored, and a clinical environment that welcomes new advances. SEMDA coming to the Upstate shines a light on the breakthroughs our companies are making and on the resources that enable businesses here to thrive,” added Matt Gevaert, CEO of KIYATEC.