News

Medtronic buys naming rights to InMotion lab

By Scott Shepard | Memphis Business Journal | Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Medtronic has purchased naming rights to a research and development laboratory at the InMotion Musculoskeletal Institute for $300,000. The biomechanical lab will be named "The Medtronic Laboratory" in recognition of the Memphis headquarters of Medtronic Spinal and Biologics.

In November, InMotion announced the naming rights sale of its biological lab to Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp.

Both interim labs are at 20 S. Dudley, the headquarters of Memphis Bioworks Foundation. The naming rights are permanent and will transfer when InMotion takes on permanent lab space in one of the new buildings to be developed at the UT-Baptist Research Park.

InMotion plans three more labs at 20 S. Dudley and will offer the same naming right terms to other sponsors. Interest in naming rights is a strong indicator of local confidence in the biotech initiative, said InMotion president and executive director Richard Tarr.

"InMotion will play an important role in growing Memphis' foundation in the biotech world," said Jon Serbousek, vice president and general manager of Medtronic's Spinal and Biologics Business. "It is a pleasure to be able to support InMotion and the biotech vision of Memphis."

InMotion was created last year to identify and recruit young biotech talent to Memphis. The organization grew out of a Battelle study commissioned by Memphis Tomorrow, which asked what the city needs to do to become a leader in biotechnology. Batelle highlighted the existing local strength in orthopedics and medical devices, recommending the creation of an organization that would focus on and promote it.

InMotion is recruiting clinician scientists through a joint appointment with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Department of Orthopaedic Surgery - Campbell Clinic. Under a similar partnership, InMotion is recruiting a Director of Biomechanics with the University of Memphis Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Based in Minneapolis, Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) is a diversified medical technology company and parent of Memphis-based Medtronic Spinal and Biologics, the spinal fixation division, which employs more than 1,200.