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Biotechnology and Life Sciences Industry Cluster

Texas lawmakers have made biotech industry growth a top priority. In 2001, the Texas Legislature appropriated $800 million for science, engineering, research, and commercialization activities. The Council on Science and Biotechnology Development was formed a year later. In 2005 the industry got another boost when Gov. Rick Perry announced the $200 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) that seeks to promote and finance technological innovations.

• Earnings generated by the state’s biopharmaceutical industry will reach $1.3 billion annually by 2014, according to the Milken Institute.
• Texas boasts more than 900 biotechnology, biomedical research and medical manufacturing companies, universities and research centers that employ 78,896 workers at an average salary of $68,293.
• In 2005, the state’s academic institutions and businesses ranked sixth in the nation for National Institutes of Health grants, which primarily supply biotechnology funding, with $1.15 billion.

Learn more about this cluster on the Texas Wide Open for Business Web site >