New med-tech innovation center proposed for I-195 land

DR. PETER J. Snyder, senior vice president and chief research officer at Lifespan, is working with Aiden Petrie, co-founder and the chief innovation officer of Ximedica, on creating a new center to attract talent and spur business creation. They want to call it the New England Medical Innovation Center. / COURTESY LIFESPAN
DR. PETER J. Snyder, senior vice president and chief research officer at Lifespan, is working with Aiden Petrie, co-founder and the chief innovation officer of Ximedica, on creating a new center to attract talent and spur business creation. They want to call it the New England Medical Innovation Center. / COURTESY LIFESPAN

PROVIDENCE — Two well-known, Rhode Island executives with expertise in medical innovation told the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission Monday they want to create a new center to attract talent and spur business creation.

The proposal, called the New England Medical Innovation Center, would be a for-profit enterprise, but also a consortium of various nonprofit partners, according to its chief architects, Dr. Peter J. Snyder and Aidan Petrie.

Snyder is the senior vice president and chief research officer at Lifespan. Petrie is the co-founder and the chief innovation officer of Ximedica.

The enterprise they described in a 30-minute presentation to the I-195 commission would include collaborations among university partners on research, on a shared master’s degree program, on medical device innovation and in professional development.

- Advertisement -

“We see enormous opportunity,” Snyder said.

Petrie described the approach as almost a “mutual fund approach” to economic and business development. While it would pursue a broad scope of medical innovation and design, Snyder and Petrie told commissioners they envisioned the medical device industry as being the focus of its commercial applications.

The project, in total, was estimated by the men at $4 million. Snyder and Petrie said they could launch within six to 12 months.

They are seeking a location for the innovation center in the I-195 Redevelopment District, with an initial space need of about 3,000 to 4,000 square feet, Snyder said. He said the medical innovation center, which will have to finalize its partnership agreements and incorporate itself, as well as hire staff, would be seeking some state incentives.

Outside the meeting, he would not specify a figure, but said initially, the group is seeking startup space in the 1 Ship St. building, which is to become a part of the Wexford Science & Technology campus, and home to Johnson & Johnson in Rhode Island.

The medical innovation center would be seeking to leverage partnerships with multiple institutions across Rhode Island, including universities and hospitals, as well as with private businesses and entrepreneurs, Snyder said. The broader purpose would be to create new, successful businesses and act as a hub in the region for investors and companies operating in the medical technology, design and innovation area.

When asked by I-195 commission’s chairman, Joseph F. Azrack, if it would be competing with the Cambridge Innovation Center, which is in negotiations to join the Wexford campus, Snyder and Petrie said no, but that they could complement its activities.

No posts to display