Skip to main content

2012 Texas Biotechnology Industry Report - Synopsis

Here is a synopsis of the of the 2012 Texas Biotechnology Industry Report (the editor of the UT Southwestern Postdoc Informer was kind enough to let me post this article up on my blog before the next issue of the newsletter is released). The report is definitely worth reading in its entirety (it's 36 pages long), but the collection of highlights below should be enough to pique the curiosity of anyone out there who might have an interest in this topic. [Insertions and corrections within the synopsis based on my own research are indicated by bracketed italics.] Happy reading!

 -----------------------------------

 2012 Texas Biotechnology Industry Report synopsis:

Private funding of Life Science-related companies in Texas:
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, venture capital firms invested $1.27 billion in 152 Texas biotech and medical device companies between 2006 and 2011. Of this total, $568 million (in 96 companies) were investments in the medical device and equipment sector. 

Rankings and Statistics:
- In 2010, the University of Texas (UT) system ranked No. 2 [No. 3] nationally for the number of patents earned by an academic institution, up from No. 5 in 2009, according to The Patent Board, an independent patent research firm. [The No. 1 and No. 2 spots in both years were occupied by MIT and the University of California (UC) system.]
- In 2010, Texas ranked No. 2 among all U.S. states for the number of life and physical scientists employed, with 48,850, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF).
- In 2008, Texas ranked No. 3 nationally for employed science, engineering, and health doctorate holders, with 39,900, according to the NSF.

State-Funded Initiatives:
Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF): In 2003, Texas established the $295 million Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF), a “deal closing” fund created to attract businesses and new jobs to Texas. It was most recently reauthorized by the state legislature in 2011. As of April 2012, TEF has awarded over $98.1 million to biotechnology-related projects. (http://governor.state.tx.us/ecodev/financial_resources/texas_enterprise_fund/)

Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF):  The Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) was established by the state in 2005 (and most recently reauthorized in 2011)  to promote and finance technological innovations across multiple industries, including biotechnology.  TETF has awarded $233.58 million to biotechnology-related projects, with $127.24 million going to commercialize start-up companies and $106.34 million awarded to universities or university-related consortiums. (http://governor.state.tx.us/ecodev/etf/)

Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT):  In 2007 the state established the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), which dedicated $3 billion in state bond money to cancer research over ten years. CPRIT received a state legislative appropriation of $450 million for fiscal years 2010-2011 as well. [As of March 2013, CPRIT has funded 498 awards worth over $835 million; of this, 14 awards totaling approximately $98 million have been made to companies (http://www.cprit.state.tx.us/). Because of recent concerns regarding its project review and approval processes, a moratorium on new CPRIT awards is currently in effect; see http://www.cprit.state.tx.us/news/message-from-interim-executive-director-wayne-roberts-/)]. 

-----------------------------------

-Isamu Hartman, PhD

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Medical Device Companies in Texas - Breakdown by City

In a previous post  I described  the geographic distribution of pharmaceutical companies within Texas. I went back to the same   directory of Texas-based pharmaceutical and medical device companies  [see disclaimer below, *] and,  this time,  took a  look at the geographic distribution of companies working in medical devices. The list [see technical note below, **] contains a total of 171 medical device companies - almost twice the number of pharmaceutical companies listed. Here is how they are geographically distributed:  The number in each wedge = the number of medical device companies in that city. "Other" consists of  Bryan/College Station (4 companies),  Athens (3),  Corpus Christi (2),  El Paso (2),  Amarillo (1),  Beaumont/Port Arthur (1),  Longview  (1),  Lubbock  (1),  Midland (1),  Mineral Wells  (1), and  Waco  (1). As with pharmaceutical companies...
4 comments
Read more

Developing Software: What Should Academic Researchers Keep in Mind? (Part 2)

In Part 1   of this essay, I discussed three learning points I'd gained from my encounters with faculty-developed software in my work as a technology transfer officer at an academic medical research institution. Those points were as follows:  Patents aren't a necessary prerequisite for commercializing software Be deliberate in your use of third-party code If you are going to release your source code publicly, consider doing it under a restrictive open source license When I finished writing it, I knew I had more to say on the topic. You can read Part 1 here . Below is my continuation. 4 - Figuring out the ‘thing’ that’s going to be licensed An important part of handing off a software-based technology from university to private industry is to first figure out exactly what is being handed off. This can be tricky! I’ve discovered that software, as a commercial asset, can take many forms. The licensing professional can bring a lot of clarity to the negotiations by making sure both ...
1 comment
Read more

Finding the Innovators: Recipients of Healthcare-Related SBIR Awards

The SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program is a federal initiative that provides funding for small businesses to engage in research and development.  Tracking SBIR awardees, I believe, should be a great method for identifying entrepreneurial, innovation-oriented players within the Texas economy.  I decided to identify which Texas-based companies in the healthcare/biomedical industry have received SBIR awards in the recent past, and how much funding they have obtained. The SBIR website contains a well-curated database of all current and past awardees (for visualizing national trends, be sure to check out their amazing "Graphical Tools" page). I pulled up a list of all SBIR awards given to Texas-based companies between 2008 and 2012 that were sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services – thus limiting the search results to grants awarded to companies in the healthcare/biomedical industry. The list consisted of 186 grants awarded to 85 different co...
6 comments
Read more