Two Illinois-based organizations are teaming up to rethink the innovation game.
The entities? Deerfield-based Baxter International, a medical device company, and Chicago-based Matter, a health technology incubator.
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Through their partnership, Baxter’s strategy and product development teams will work with Matter’s entrepreneurs to improve healthcare quality and value via new ideas and products.
More specifically, Baxter will supply Matter startups with the tools they need to advance their innovations.
In turn, Matter will introduce Baxter to its member companies and provide exclusive access to technologies in development.
In a recent phone interview, Matter CEO Steven Collens said the two organizations have been talking for a long time. But it’s only in the last two months or so that Matter has gotten to know the individuals at Baxter who are thinking strategically about new technologies.
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“[Baxter is] really getting strategic about how they’re going to work with startups and entrepreneurs,” Collens said.
In a statement, David Roman, vice president of strategy for Baxter’s global business, noted his company’s interest in innovative thinking.
“Our work with Matter will help Baxter provide meaningful support for healthcare innovation in Chicago,” he said. “Our partnership with Matter extends Baxter’s efforts to access new sources of information. Importantly, we can help advance new ideas that have the potential to greatly improve healthcare here and around the world.”
This isn’t the device company’s first foray into innovation. In May, it unveiled a five-year research and development agreement with Mayo Clinic to improve innovation across therapeutic areas. In July, it announced a similar collaboration with Tel Aviv University and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center focused on innovation in surgical care.
Matter, too, has been busy this year. In late April, it joined forces with Three Lake Partners in a $1 million innovation challenge intended to improve the quality of life for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients and their caregivers.
As for the latest collaboration, Collens noted his anticipation over working with a company like Baxter.
“Baxter has a presence in most hospitals in the world,” he said. “We have a lot of entrepreneurs at Matter who are building solutions that are focused on helping health systems use data and aggregate data in ways that can help them make smarter decisions.”
Additionally, the partnership will be an advantage to Matter’s members.
“Our mission is to help get next generation healthcare technologies to market faster, and working with Baxter will allow us to do that even better,” Collens said.
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