Royal Philips is boosting its presence in Cleveland with a just-announced establishment of a new R&D center of excellence and headquarters for its Computed Tomography and Advanced Molecular Imaging (CT/AMI) business there. Plans call for a launch in 2019's first quarter.

The move will see the center, which will employ about 175 people, housed in Cleveland's ultramodern Pinecrest development – now under construction.

“Our focus on innovation and customer centricity is paying off, as exemplified by the success of our high-performance Vereos Digital PET/CT system, which simplifies the clinical decision-making process through a fast, more confident path to cancer treatment. I am convinced that our new CT/AMI R&D center of excellence and renewed customer services center in Cleveland will be vital for our future success,” Philips business leader of Diagnostic Imaging, Kees Wesdorp, said in a statement.

In February, Philips announced that it was happy to keep investing in the Cleveland site.

“Philips' deep and rich background in CT and PET physics and image reconstruction is centered in Cleveland and will be an ongoing key differentiator for our products going forward,” Rob Cascella, chief business leader of the diagnosis and treatment businesses at Philips, told HCB News. “Cleveland's proximity to key universities has been a solid feeder for innovation and talent supporting our R&D objectives.”

To keep up with training demands both technical and clinical, the existing Philips Cleveland facility is getting a major overhaul – to boost training for both global customers and field agents. To handle the refocus, Philips will shutter manufacturing in the plant Q1 2019.

“This was a business-driven decision,” said Cascella. “This is part of our strategic road map to drive profitable growth of our Diagnostic Imaging business.”

Since 2016, Philips has renewed 70 percent of its Diagnostic Imaging portfolio and gained market share in the U.S. and China. That growth is also attributed to improvements made in customer services and advanced informatics.

“We are convinced that with these investments and fine-tuning of our global footprint, we can take advantage of existing efficiencies to accelerate innovation, while further enhancing our customer services,” said Cascella.

Philips showed its commitment to cutting edge R&D in late 2017, when it teamed up with Nuance Communications Inc. to implement artificial intelligence-based tools to enhance imaging interpretation and reporting capabilities for radiologists.

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