Ximedica to open office at University Enterprise Labs

A Rhode Island medical development and contract manufacturing firm is opening an office at the St. Paul, Minnesota-based incubator University Enterprise Labs.

Ximedica announced Tuesday that the company’s new Minnesota location will serve as a central hub for its healthcare client base in the Midwest. Its corporate headquarters are in Providence and it also has an office in Hong Kong to support its Asian supply chain operation.

David Copeland, director of human factors industrial design at Ximedica, will lead the local office.

“I am delighted to champion efforts to expand our breadth of expertise to the Midwest,” Copeland said in a news release. “There’s nothing more important to us than helping our clients develop innovative, safe products that improve patient outcomes.”

An Ximedica executive said that the company is leasing a 2,000-square-foot suite from UEL. The facility is expected to be at full capacity this fall and employees with expertise in industrial design, human factors and engineering will be hired.

“Our intent is to hire locally,” said Darren Abrams, executive vice president at Ximedica, in a phone interview, although he declined to say how many people will be staffed at the St. Paul location. “It’s tough to say right now [how many will be hired], but the plan is to hire fairly aggressively.”

Abrams said that Ximedica plans to “cultivate new business” as well as serve existing clients in the Midwest.

Meanwhile, UEL is looking to expand, although that is likely not going to happen soon.

“We have turned away an estimated 30,000 square feet of wet lab space demand in the last 12 to 18 months,” said Tony Carideo, chairman of the board of directors, in a phone interview. We are totally full.”