Medtronic has announced plans to double the footprint of its London office, focused on developing artificial intelligence and digital technologies such as robotic surgery, both in its physical size and in head count.
The medtech giant said the move is part of a multimillion-dollar investment in the U.K. that will span the next five years and aims to line up with some of the goals in the National Health Service’s (NHS') decade-long plan that kicked off this summer.
Located within the “Silicon Roundabout” area also known as East London Tech City, the R&D office is set to grow in square footage to 25,000 and maintain more than 200 employees, which would make it the company’s largest global AI and surgical robotics center.
“The future of surgery is increasingly digital. Our investment reflects the significant talent and innovation here in the UK, including in AI, and is a statement of intent to transform healthcare outcomes for surgeons and patients worldwide,” Medtronic’s general manager for digital surgical technologies, George Murgatroyd, said in a statement.
The location, dubbed a center of digital excellence, has previously had a hand in designing AI for analyzing procedures and providing real-time decision support, as well as programs for telesurgery. It also features a mock operating theater to test out new robotic platforms for healthcare professionals.
“Placing ourselves in the beating heart of London’s tech hub, probably the most innovative square mile in Europe, is key to building the future of digitally-enabled healthcare,” Murgatroyd said.
Medtronic’s decision follows multiple Big Pharmas saying they will close down R&D sites in the U.K. or redirect their planned investments elsewhere. This month, Merck & Co. canceled a $1.3 billion project to outfit a major site in central London, while moving all its research operations out of the country.
At the same time, the U.K.-headquartered AstraZeneca paused a $271 million investment in its Cambridge site—and Eli Lilly has been reconsidering plans to launch a biotech incubator as part of a $378 million outlay.
Sanofi has also frozen its R&D spending in the country. The pullback has been largely tied to an NHS decision to increase the proportion of sales of newer branded medicines that drugmakers must pay back to the U.K.
Medtronic said it would continue to pursue local partnerships in the design of robotic surgery systems, building on work with various hospitals including Imperial, King’s College, University College London Hospitals and Guy’s and St. Thomas’—including with the company’s Hugo soft tissue robot as well as its AI-powered GI Genius platform and PillCam endoscopy devices.
“This is a transformative moment for surgical innovation within the NHS,” said Sanjay Purkayastha, M.D., a bariatric surgeon at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. “AI-powered technologies are no longer future concepts in surgery; they are here and will redefine how we care for patients. By working with partners like Medtronic, we can accelerate the adoption of digital tools in the operating theatre and set a new standard for precision, training, and patient outcomes across the NHS.”
Outside the city, Medtronic recently re-upped its partnership with the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which will also focus on codeveloping AI and robotic tech spanning cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, medical surgery and diabetes through a U.K.-first agreement.