WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken released the following statements on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today awarding the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), based in Minnesota, $3 million in funding to establish the Coordinating Center for the Medical Device National Evaluation System for health Technology (NEST).

 

“Minnesota is home to more than 600 medical device companies that employ over 35,000 people who work each day to improve patients’ health and well-being, so it is only fitting that the new national Coordinating Center will be based in our state,” said Klobuchar, a co-chair of the bipartisan Medical Technology Caucus. “This new effort will help foster innovation, improve safety, and ultimately, lead to more lives being saved.”

“This is great news for Minnesota and for people who rely on the life-saving products made by our hometown medical device manufacturers," said Franken. “Basing a new national Coordinating Center in Minneapolis will bring key stakeholders together to improve patient safety, promote innovation, and enhance the quality of life for millions of people. I’m pleased that this funding will help Minnesota become an even greater hub for health innovation.”


NEST will help improve the quality of real-world evidence that health care providers and patients can use to make better informed treatment decisions and strike the right balance between assuring safety and fostering device innovation and patient access.

 

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