Omar Ishrak, CEO of Medtronic plc, met in Jerusalem recently with Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen and Israel Innovation Authority Director Aharon Aharon to discuss Medtronic’s plan to establish two R&D centers in Israel.
According to the Israel business publication Globes, Aharon said, “We see life sciences and medical equipment as a sector with large potential that it is important for us to promote. We hope that Medtronic will be a key player in this developing field. Our strategy is to promote an innovative development environment that does not yet exist in Israel or in which we are interested in developing.”
Medtronic will reportedly invest $56 million in the two R&D centers and has asked for a government grant of $15 million. The Israel Innovation Authority often pays 30% of salaries over the first three years for employees of such new R&D centers.
Medtronic already has a major presence in Israel with 750 employees and recently made a major investment in Israeli surgical robotics company Mazor. Medtronic also owns Given Imaging, the Israeli company that invented capsule endoscopy (a camera in a pill) and is a partner in the MindUp digital health technology incubator in Haifa.
