{"id":92692,"date":"2025-12-22T17:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T17:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/92692\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T17:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T17:55:09","slug":"jabil-opens-medical-device-lab-to-foster-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/92692\/","title":{"rendered":"Jabil opens medical device lab to foster innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world\u2019s largest healthcare manufacturing solutions provider has positioned St. Petersburg as a hub for innovation in the multibillion-dollar minimally invasive medical device<\/a> industry.<\/p>\n

\u200bJabil Inc. recently opened a new Advanced Catheter Development Lab at its St. Petersburg headquarters. The facility\u2019s on-site design, development, prototyping and testing capabilities will help university researchers, entrepreneurs and manufacturers meet an increasing global demand for minimally invasive products.<\/p>\n

\u200bCatheters are thin, flexible tubes used in various medical procedures. Ramy Awad, technical lead for Jabil<\/a>, said the \u201cvery rare\u201d lab will \u201cabsolutely\u201d help cement the region\u2019s status as an industry leader.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cHaving all of this equipment underneath one roof is what makes it very attractive for medical device innovators,\u201d Awad told the Catalyst. \u201cIf anyone has funding to develop a device \u2013 or has a new idea \u2013 this lab can make it for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bJabil created the lab in collaboration with the University of Florida and the University of South Florida. The facility opened Dec. 5 inside the company\u2019s innovation center.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cvery expensive\u201d and rarely found in one location.<\/p>\n

Awad noted that many industry innovators are practicing physicians or surgeons who apply real-world experiences. \u201cThey don\u2019t have a way of making the device,\u201d he explained. \u201cThey don\u2019t even know where to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bJabil\u2019s technology specialists will assist with product development. Stakeholders can then test the devices at an adjacent failure analysis lab.<\/p>\n

\u200bMike Mahaz, senior vice president of global business units, healthcare at Jabil, said Advanced Catheter Development Lab\u2019s launch \u201crepresents a significant capability expansion\u201d for the company\u2019s technology center in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

\u200bJabil, along with our collaborators, is focused on investments in support of medical advances that are making procedures less invasive, more precise and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 leading to better outcomes for patients,\u201d Mahaz said in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n

\u200bFostering new industry innovations will benefit Jabil once products gain commercial acceptance and partner businesses scale. Awad said the overarching goal is to \u201ccapture the market way before\u201d hospitals, outpatient clinics and surgical centers adopt the devices.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cThen you\u2019re locked in a lot earlier, and you can scale with that company,\u201d he added. \u201cOr if they get bought by somebody else, we\u2019re the manufacturer to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bA grant from the State of Florida partially supported the lab\u2019s development. Awad said collaborating with UF and USF will create a pipeline of academic innovations and expertise that improve health outcomes and patient care.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cGreat results come from coordination among the state, universities and private companies like Jabil,\u201d said David Norton, vice president for research at UF. \u201cThe lab will help us take great ideas and turn them into reality with prototypes and testing that prove their performance and manufacturability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bUSF Provost Prasant Mohapatra said combining \u201cmanufacturing excellence with high-impact research\u201d would deliver \u201clife-changing solutions.\u201d He called the facility another example of Florida continuing to \u201cset the standard for healthcare innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bThe expansion is part of Jabil\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u200bJabil has also built new medical device sterilization facilities in Memphis and the Dominican Republic. Mahaz said the St. Petersburg lab will \u201csupport universities and major healthcare brands in advancing catheter development and meeting the growing demand for these important tools.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s largest healthcare manufacturing solutions provider has positioned St. Petersburg as a hub for innovation in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-92692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}