Gov. Daniel J. McKee recently celebrated the $81.7 million opening of the new Ocean State Labs in Providence’s Jewelry District. The labs are a testament to Rhode Island’s ambition to become a center for biotech innovation. Rhode Island is investing millions to build the next generation of medical technology. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may fast-track life-changing devices, Stanford Biodesign data reveals that it takes more than five years for Medicare to actually pay for them. Rhode Island is investing in promising new innovations with one hand, but the federal bureaucracy strangles progress.
Rhode Island is currently trapped in an innovation paradox. We rank in the top 10 nationally for National Institutes of Health funding per capita, yet we are a “bottom-tier” state, ranking 48th nationally for starting a business and translating products from the lab to the patient.
To succeed, we must stop trying to be a “mini-Boston” and start building a system that works for Rhode Island.
Massachusetts became a biotech powerhouse, building an ecosystem where local hospitals act as early adopters. Programs such as the Brigham Innovation Hub connect clinicians, startups and investors to evaluate and implement emerging technologies inside the hospital system, accelerating prototypes to patient use. If we want to compete, our success cannot be measured by counting the number of new patents sitting on the shelf. True success is commercial density: the number of companies that stay here because our state gets new cures to patients faster than anyone else.
We are currently incubating promising new therapies at Ocean State Labs. OncoLux Inc. is developing artificial-intelligence-guided imaging to help surgeons see cancer in real-time. MindImmune Therapeutics Inc. is tackling Alzheimer’s disease blocks away from the Statehouse. These are our test cases. Unless federal policy changes, our $81.7 million lab will have a limited return on investment for patients and taxpayers. Without faster adoption pathways, Rhode Island risks becoming a place where discoveries are made but commercialized somewhere else.
We cannot wait for Washington, but we can demand that our leaders lead. First, our congressional delegation must advocate for the Ensuring Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act. This bill would mandate four years of automatic Medicare coverage for breakthrough devices, ending the 5.7-year “waiting room” for new therapies overnight. Second, the R.I. Life Science Hub must pivot from funding architecture to funding access for patients and clinicians.
Florida created a $50 million Health Care Innovation Revolving Loan Program to provide low-interest financing to hospitals implementing innovative technologies. Rhode Island should take a similar approach by creating a reimbursement bridge, a fund that incentivizes local health care systems to adopt homegrown technology for Rhode Island patients while federal Medicare catches up.
We have built the engine in the Jewelry District. Now it’s time to put it to work.
Ian Smith is a junior at Providence College, majoring in health policy management and neuroscience. He lives in Melrose, Mass.
