Former Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) CEO Bill Hawkins will serve as the first chairman of a new private-public partnership aimed at improving development and testing of medical devices.
The partnership includes the Minnesota med-tech community, the FDA’s Center for Devices & Radiological Health and the University of Minnesota to establish a regulatory science center in the North Star State.
Hawkins, who took the corner office at Immucor Inc. (NSDQ:BLUD) in October 2010 and is also working with the entrepreneurs-in-residence program at the CDRH, will provide executive management and oversee administration projects.
The center’s first task will be to create a human anatomy computer modeling system that will help "save a lot of trial and error" for device makers of all kinds, the Star Tribune reported.
The center was the brain-child of device industry trade group LifeScience Alley, who called stakeholders to the table in August 2010 to discuss advancing a set of tools and methods for evaluating the safety, effectiveness, quality and performance of medical devices.
CDRH chief Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, who was on hand for the meeting, said that the partnership was a first for the medical devices industry.
Check out MassDevice’s exclusive interview with Bill Hawkins
By December LifeScience Alley and the FDA had a signed memorandum of understanding on the continued development of best practices in regulatory science.
If the pilot version of the program works in Minnesota, it may serve as a national model for device safety and clearance.
Here are latest personnel changes from medical device, diagnostics and life science companies around the nation. For more recent hirings and firings, check out MassDevice’s compilation of the latest personnel moves.
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