The move is part of the company’s strategy as it shifts from a consumer products company into a health tech company.
Netherlands-based health tech company Royal Philips will move its North American headquarters to Cambridge, Mass. from Andover, Mass. by 2020.
The company will shift its 2,000 employees into a 243,000 square-foot facility on a 45-acre campus, the Boston Business Journal reported late Thursday. The move into a new headquarters is part of the company’s strategy as it shifts from a consumer products company into a health tech company, the Journal noted. Over the past year, the company has made several moves to support the transition, including the $2.16 billion acquisition of Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Spectranetics Corporation. Spectranetics has developed several devices to treat coronary and peripheral artery disease, including laser atherectomy catheters for treatment of arterial blockages. Philips also was given 510(k) clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July 2017 to market the Philips BlueControl wearable light therapy device to treat mild psoriasis.
Philips has a wide variety of healthcare products such as respiratory care, molecular imaging products and diagnostic services. The company also manufactures the Sonicare toothbrush and has a research division that focuses on genomics, health-care informatics and population analytics.
A Philips spokesperson told the Journal that the move to Cambridge will make it more convenient for the company to be closer to some of its partners that include hospitals, health systems and research institutions.
“It just made sense for us to be closer to Cambridge, where we could be a lot closer to those partners, and closer to the startups who we’ve been working with and trying to co-innovate and create the solutions that people need to achieve seamless care,” Philips spokesperson Silvie Casanova told the Journal.
The Philips team moving to Cambridge will include its innovation and commercial healthcare technology team, as well as a 200-person research team that is supported by a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to the Journal.
The new campus will provide plenty of space for Philips to grow its headquarters. Casanova told the Journal that was one reason Philips selected the spot. When Philips exits Andover, it will close down three office and lab facilities in the town. Philips will keep a 300-person manufacturing facility open in Andover. Philips informed its Andover-based employees of the move this week, Mass Device reported. However, no employees are expected to lose their jobs over the move. Andover is about 25 miles from Cambridge.
In August 2017, Philips announced plans to open a center of excellence in Nashville, Tenn. That is expected to bring about 800 jobs to the area. As Royal Philips plans its move into Tennessee, the new center of excellence is expected to service several key company operations that will be consolidated at the facility. Among the business functions that will be operated from the Nashville site are commercial operations, customer service operations, finance, human resources, information technology, marketing, procurement and quality and regulatory functions.
