For the first time in five years, Texas will have a representative at an international biotechnology convention in San Francisco.
BionorthTX , a nonprofit health and science trade association based in Southlake, will represent the Dallas-Fort Worth area at the 2016 Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) International Convention on June 6-9. The annual convention, which attracts about 15,000 attendees each year, brings together pharmaceutical and biotechnology leaders to network and learn about advances in their fields.
BionorthTX will showcase the work of Dallas-Fort Worth healthcare companies like Galderma, which recently underwent a $22 million expansion, and Thermi, which was recently acquired by Barcelona-based pharmaceutical company Almirall for $88 million, according to a news release.
“To outsiders, our region may be known more for the financial market, software, oil and gas and the Stockyards than life science and healthcare innovation,” said bionorthTX co-founder and COO Kay Tieman. “Participating in the BIO annual convention will give us an opportunity to show the world’s biotech and [pharmaceutical] professionals we are a leading center of health care and life sciences industry development, which should also drive public and private capital to our members.”
According to a news release, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has about 1,000 companies in the life science field, employing more than 26,000 people. Some area organizations are Alcon, ZS Pharma, the Baylor Scott & White Health and Research Institute and the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
“We have an exciting story to tell about North Texas’s vibrant health care and life sciences industries,” Tieman said. “This is a primary objective for bionorthTX and attending BIO 2016 is just a first step.”
http://bionorthtx.org/