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Boston Scientific Inc., which entered Alpharetta with an acquisition of an Israel-linked firm six years ago, is set to invest $62.5 million into a new plant nearby that will eventually employ 340.
The Massachusetts-based company purchased Alpharetta-based EndoChoice Inc. for $210 million in 2016, after a growth spurt at the latter publicly traded company which was fueled in part by Israeli technology.
EndoChoice was recognized with the American-Israel Chamber’s deal of the year award in 2013 for its $43 million purchase of Israel-based Peer Medical, which became its research partner for endoscopes that claim to gave doctors a broader view during colonoscopy procedures.
EndoChoice was still losing millions at the time of being acquired, but it had built a substantive portfolio of intellectual property, including many medical devices designed specifically for gastroenterologists.
Its founder, Mark Gilreath, had previously worked as an executive for another high-flying firm, Given Imaging, the maker of the PillCam, which helped doctors examine the esophagus by recording images on the way down after being swallowed. Given was founded in Israel, grew in the U.S. via metro Atlanta and ultimately was sold for $860 million to Irish medical device maker Covidien.
Boston Scientific has 17,000-plus products solutions used in a variety of medical sectors, from endoscopy to cardiology, oncology, urology and more, treating 30 million people globally each year. The company employs 41,000 people around the world and 300 in Georgia.
The new facility, which will include manufacturing and distribution, will be located in Fulton County at 11350 Johns Creek Parkway in Johns Creek.
Officials cheered the announcement as evidence of the growing life sciences sector in Georgia, where 2,200 clinical trials are recruiting patients or are under way. The Georgia Department of Economic Development says that $3.2 billion worth of immunological products and $1.9 billion in medical devices were exported from the state in 2021.
International firms have taken notice. Israeli firms have long been active in the state, and Belgium-based UCB recently attracted a visit from the country’s princess to its 47-acre campus and new research center in Cobb County.
Atlanta is also home to the Global Center for Medical Innovation, a medical device incubator out of Georgia Tech, and the Center for Global Health Innovation, a new coalition of 250 organizations aimed at capitalizing on Atlanta’s advantages as a global health hub to attract more activity and improve outcomes around the world.
