BioTechnology Industry Guide

Are you in the market for:

  • A strong network of technology transfer offices and associations working on commercialization and licensing of inventions and discoveries?
  • Abundant and attractively priced private lab space available for research and development?
  • A young, diverse and growing workforce skilled in life sciences?
  • Colleges that will work with you to tailor curriculum to your special research needs?

Houston is a dynamic biotechnology center. The region has a strong infrastructure providing all the tools for a successful operation.

The Greater Houston Partnership has a unique place among business organizations. It combines opportunities for economic development, world trade and chamber of commerce activities. As the Houston region’s primary business advocate, the Partnership helps keep businesses connected and works for their interests.

Biotechnology Facts

  • The University of Houston received a $1 million grant from the Texas Workforce Commission that will assist the university's Center for Life Sciences Technology in creating an interdisciplinary bachelor of science degree in biotechnology and short-term training programs aimed at industry professionals.
  • Thirty-six universities, technical schools and community colleges in the region together totaled more than 6,000 graduates in 2004 with life science or biotechnology-related degrees of certification.
  • The Woodlands, north of Houston, is home to the 1,000-acre Research Forest, designed specifically for scientific, research and biotechnology companies.
  • The UT Research Park, a joint venture between The University of Texas M.D. Anderson and the UT Health Science Center at Houston, is located in the Medical Center. When fully developed, the UT Research Park will be made up of nearly 2 million square feet of research, lab, office and support space for private companies and not-for-profit research institutions. The venture will be focused on biotechnology and life sciences research.
  • BioHouston Resource Center and Genesis Biotechnology Park is a conglomeration of office and lab space designed to assist start-up life science companies on the road to commercialization.
  • Genetics/Geomics: Baylor College of Medicine is home to the Human Genome Sequencing Center, one of only five in the nation.
  • Oncology: The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is ranked second among the nation’s cancer hospitals in U.S. News and World Report’s 2006 annual survey.
  • Ferid Murad is one of three Houston Nobel Prize winners. He and two colleagues were honored for their discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system. Nitric oxide is a colorless, odorless gas that signals blood vessels to relax and widen, thereby lowering blood pressure. Murad is chairman of the department of integrative biology and pharmacology at The University of Texas Health Science Center.

Biotechnology Downloadable PDF Fact Sheet

Much of Houston’s biotechnology industry is focused in the Texas Medical Center at institutions like the Albert B. Alkek Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University System, Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, The University of Texas - Houston Health Science Center, and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Houston’s five leadership areas of research include biodefense and infectious diseases, oncology, cardiovascular medicine, genetics/genomics and nanotechnology. Biotechnology is one of the industries’ targeted for growth in the region’s 2005-2015 Strategic Plan.

Baylor College of Medicine’s Human Genome Sequencing Center is part of the Human Genome Project, the international consortium that completed, two years ahead of schedule, the identification and order of 3 billion DNA letters that make up man’s 46 chromosomes. Many consider this one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings of all time, even compared to splitting the atom or going to the moon.

Biotechnology Resources in Houston

Biotechnology Events in Houston

  • The Texas Life Science Conference brings together the industry’s leading venture capitalists, researchers and emerging companies from across the country, representing some of the most revolutionary developments in the life sciences.
  • The annual BioHouston Commercialization Symposium brings industry luminaries together with the leaders of emerging biotech companies, research institutions, scientists and entrepreneurs to share their insights and experiences on the latest issues surrounding new product development and commercialization.