Abingdon Health is a company born in York, England, with an international reputation for developing and producing “lateral-flow” diagnostic tests used in health care, agriculture and beyond. When it came time to sink deeper roots in the United States, the company selected Madison and Wisconsin.
That decision speaks to core reasons why the state is a leader in health-tech, which can range from diagnostics to therapeutics, from devices to imaging, and from software to health information systems. It’s a competitive edge that must remain sharp for the state’s economic future.
During a mid-April unveiling at University Research Park in Madison, Abingdon’s chief operating officer and U.S. president told a welcoming crowd why the company picked the region and the state for its first domestic facility.
“The United States is the largest market within med-tech in the world,” COO Chris Yates said, and it’s already home to about 45% of Abingdon’s customers. “From a regulatory point of view, it’s actually the most straight-forward market on which to focus” because U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements are essentially the global standard.
More specific to Wisconsin, Yates said, the Madison region has a “very well-established biotech community” and related resources exist elsewhere through the state’s medical schools, workforce training hubs and overall research and clinical trials capacity. Plus, the state’s agricultural base fits well with other rapid tests in Abingdon’s portfolio, such as potato virus, avian flu and more.
“It’s a really good cultural fit,” he added. “We’re delighted to be here.”
Also happy to be in Wisconsin are at least 200 other med-tech companies of all descriptions, from startups in cities across the state to industry giants such as Epic in Verona, Exact Sciences in Madison, Promega in Fitchburg and GE Healthcare in the Milwaukee area.
Those companies collectively employ about 58,000 people, according to BioForward Wisconsin, with more than 80,000 indirect jobs. That’s up 25% since 2018. The industry’s direct economic impact was estimated at $22 billion in 2024 and $37.7 billion the same year once the full supply chain is considered.
Med-tech’s economic effects are not just felt in the Madison area, although the presence of the UW-Madison and related institutions such as the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the Morgridge Institute for Research and UW Health are a big part of the regional draw.
Companies can also be found in Hudson on the state’s western border to Beloit in the south to Green Bay in the northeast and to Marshfield in central Wisconsin.
The med-tech industry in Wisconsin is not without challenges, however. Chief among them now are likely cuts in federal government support for research-oriented agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Those agencies have long funded basic and applied projects that can catapult breakthroughs from the laboratory to the marketplace.
In March, about 20 Wisconsin companies and private organizations joined in a letter to the state’s congressional delegation asking them to help maintain “robust” NIH funding – not only because of the money involved – but the benefits to human health.
The letter noted that such research in Wisconsin has already “revolutionized” organ transplantation by extending the viability of human organs during transport; improved cancer chemotherapy for adults and children; led to life-saving anti-microbial drugs; improved screenings for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome; and accelerated research focused on Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
It also noted that research trials financed in part by NIH grants aren’t just taking place in cities; they are spread across rural Wisconsin through 80 rural clinics.
Wisconsin has a thriving med-tech sector that is attracting talent, companies and money from other states and nations. The average person may not see the benefits of such activity and research during a given day, but it’s there in real ways that help the economy and human health.
