bioOrlando: Accelerating Life Science in Central Florida

When visitors land at the Orlando International Airport in 2009, there will be a new ‘attraction’ located not far away from baggage claim: Orlando’s budding ‘medical city’ – which will be anchored by The Burnham Institute for Medical Research – a premier non-profit medical research facility focused on therapies for cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases.

With plans to create 300 research jobs and build a 175,000-square-foot facility, Burnham’s facility in Orlando will reside in a new high tech corridor dubbed Innovation Way. It will be co-located with the recently announced $200 million University of Central Florida College of Medicine, a new University of Florida medical research lab, a new VA hospital and a proposed Nemours Children’s Hospital. Combined, these developments will bolster Orlando’s position as an emerging medical and biotech hub.

In fact, within just a one-year period, Orlando has made its dreams for a ‘medical city’ come true and moved itself up in the ranks of the biotech world. FierceBiotech recently named Florida “one of the top five regions (in the world) targeting biotech companies.” This designation recognizes our state’s most recent successes in luring life science companies.

Already home to two of the largest healthcare systems in the nation (Florida Hospital and Orlando Regional Healthcare), several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical distribution companies and 155 biotech and life science companies, this new buzz about Metro Orlando’s emerging biotechnology and life science cluster has been heard across the country. And as a result, the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC) has been receiving an unprecedented number of inquiries by life science companies.

With so much critical mass falling into place, this region has quickly catapulted to ‘contender’ status in the bioscience industry. Business leaders from across the area have decided to band together in a collaborative spirit—as bioOrlando—to focus on the biotechnology and life science industry. Led by the EDC, bioOrlando focuses on the development of Central Florida's life science and biotechnology industry as it pursues initiatives that further accelerate this already fast-emerging sector.

For more information on bioOrlando, visit www.bioorlando.com.