Royal Philips announced on Friday that it invested in a new research and development facility in Cleveland, Ohio for its CT and Advanced Molecular Imaging businesses.

“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.”

The company also has plans to cease diagnostic imaging manufacturing operations in Cleveland in the second half of this year to focus more on innovation and customer services. That location currently makes up less than three percent of the total global diagnostic imaging sales volume.
“This was a business-driven decision,” said Cascella. “This is part of our strategic roadmap 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.

Philips will also optimize the learning environment in the Cleveland facility for thousands of Philips field service engineers and customers to meet the growing demand for technical and clinical training.

“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.

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