Memphis Bioscience
Do Business > Target Industries > Bioscience
Collaboration, Commercialization, Speed to Market
The broad-based collection of bioscience industries in the Memphis region employ close to 40,000 workers across more than 300 establishments, representing over six percent of the private employment in the region. This concentration of bioscience industry activity stands more than 30 percent higher than the national average.
Memphis’ diverse network of institutions, organizations, incubators, clinics and bioscience firms is known for its research and clinical excellence, its depth of skilled technicians and internationally-recognized scientists and its commitment to deepening and broadening the bioscience training available locally. Memphis offers bioscience firms and researchers:
Established Base of Leading Biomedical Firms & Clinical Expertise
Worldwide Leader in Orthopaedic and Spinal Implants
Memphis is a worldwide leader in orthopaedic and spinal implants development as well as orthopaedic device manufacturing. Memphis firms represent the full life cycle of orthopedic and medical implant product development from research to product design to clinical development to manufacturing to distribution. Major manufacturers include: Medtronic Sofamor-Danek, Smith & Nephew Orthopaedics, and Wright Medical.
Four of the World’s Top Pharmaceutical Companies
GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Schering-Plough – all have major operations in Memphis.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis is home to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the premier center for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases. In 2010, St. Jude ranked second on The Scientist magazine “Best Places to Work in Academia” list and ranked as the top hospital in 2010 for Children's Cancer Care on U.S. News and World Report's "Best Hospitals List." In 2009, St. Jude ranked as the top Pediatric Cancer Care Hospital in the country by Parents magazine. St. Jude employs more than 3,500 clinicians, researchers, postdoctoral fellows, administrators and information technology specialists from around the globe, including Peter Doherty, PhD, of the Department of Immunology. Dr. Doherty was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for key discoveries he made about the workings of the immune system. For more information about St. Jude, visit: www.stjude.org.
Memphis is a Regional Clinical Hub
Because of its large catchment area, Memphis offers bioscience firms and researchers critical access to a broad range of medical specialists as well as one of the nation’s most demographically and ethnically diverse patient populations. Memphis is home to Baptist Memorial Hospital, St. Francis Hospital, Methodist University Hospital, the Med, Memphis VA Hospital, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, and the internationally recognized St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Memphis’ areas of clinical- and research-excellence include:
- Cancer diseases especially brain and eye tumors.
- Breast and prostrate cancer and hematologic malignancies.
- Bacterial and viral infectious diseases.
- Stroke, cerebral and cardio vascular diseases.
- Transplantation and gene therapy
- Mechanisms of fibrosis found in autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases and heart and other organ failure.
The Regional Medical Center at Memphis
“The Med” is the 3rd-largest Level 1 Trauma Center in the nation.
Specialized Clinical Groups
The world-renowned Campbell Clinic, Semmes-Murphey Neurologic & Spine Institute, and OrthoMemphis.
InMotion Musculoskeletal Institute
Memphis is home to the InMotion Musculoskeletal Institute, an independent, private, not-for-profit orthopaedic research laboratory where convergent clinical, research, and industry partners can meet to create a translational research model. For more information, visit: www.inmotionmemphis.org.
Smaller, Independent Companies & Start-Ups
GTx, Inc., Active Implants, TiGenix, Regenisys Orthopaedics, and Expanding Orthopedics.
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Extensive Support Network & Opportunities for Collaboration
Memphis provides biomedical firms and entrepreneurs a rich staging ground for collaboration – from its institutional and organizational assets to connectivity with other researchers through high-throughput data sharing.
Memphis Bioworks Foundation
The Memphis Bioworks Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, charged with develop¬ing Memphis as a bioscience center by leveraging the community’s competitive strengths while expanding the infrastructure, educational opportunities, and entrepreneur support needed to expand bioscience industries. For more information, visit: www.memphisbioworks.org.
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Adjacent to UT-Baptist Research Park and sponsor of the future Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, the UT Health Science Center is home to the state’s largest medical school, a pharmacy school with active drug development research initiatives, and many strong existing research programs. With nearly $100 million awarded annually in external funding for research and sponsored programs, UTHSC research centers include the:
For more information, visit: www.uthsc.edu/research.
FedEx Institute of Technology
Home of the University of Memphis Office of Technology Transfer, the FedEx Institute of Technology supports interdisciplinary research in such areas as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and biotechnology. For more information, visit: www.memphis.edu/fedex.
Educational Infrastructure of 11 Colleges and Universities
Included are the Southern College of Optometry, University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy (a new building is under construction in the UT-Baptist Research Park), and the University of Memphis Department of Biomedical Engineering. Of the approximately 6,800 graduates each year, 32% (almost 2,200) earn bio¬science-related degrees. Colleges and universities in the Mid-South grant over 30,000 degrees and certificates each year.
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Optimal Infrastructure for Collaboration, Commercialization & Getting Goods to Market
Ease of Outsourcing – Biomedical Contract-Manufacturing
Memphis offers an extensive inventory of biomedical contract-manufacturing operations, including: QFx Technologies, Sandvik Medical Solutions, Engineered Medical Systems (EMS), Y&W Technologies, Onyx Medical Corporation, and Millstone Medical Outsourcing.
Business Accelerator – Innova Inc.
Innova's mission is to identify promising ideas and help turn them into viable local businesses, particularly in the fields of biotechnology and logistics. Innova provides experienced management, market expertise and venture capital to accelerate the development of new products and services into viable business units. To find out more, visit: www.innovamemphis.com.
Entrepreneurship Development Organization – TECworks
Founded by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation, TECworks seeks to assist aspiring technology and bioscience entrepreneurs and emerging companies through experience-based education and business services. TECworks:
- Educates and mentors entrepreneurs to ready their products for commercialization.
- Assists individuals and organizations with evaluating investment opportunities and the processes of investment.
- Provides an Angel Network in which qualified individuals can invest in the business opportunities being developed through TECworks.
UT-Baptist Research Park
A world-class facility in the middle of the Memphis Medical Center, the UT-Baptist Research Park offers proximity to numerous biotech businesses, strong university research capabilities, an urban campus, and a highly trained technical workforce. The 10-year, six-phase master plan (begun in February 2007) envisions a research, incubator, and commercial center dedicated to the bioscience industry. Six buildings with an average size of 200,000 square feet will include:
- State-of-the-art lab and office buildings.
- A Regional Biocontainment Lab with a suite of Biosafety Level 2 and 3 laboratory modules.
- Accessible vivarium space and centralized management of live-animal studies.
- A cadaveric training academy.
- A new University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy building.
- Facilities for training, meetings, and security.
- Build-to-suit laboratory and office space.
Space is available for leasing beginning in September 2011. For more information, visit: www.utbaptistresearchpark.com.
Medical Education and Research Institute (MERI)
The Medical Education and Research Institute (MERI), is a leading center for training physicians and medical students from across the world in surgical techniques for innovative medical implants and minimally invasive surgical techniques. For more information, visit: www.meri.org.
Connectivity with Other Researchers through High-Throughput Data Sharing
In the next year, the Memphis biomedical research community will have access to the National Lambda Rail as well as one of the world’s largest supercomputers at Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
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Favorable Business Climate
Memphis offers bioscience companies a superior ability for distribution to customers and supply chain management, as well as an ability to manufacture products at competitive costs.
Speed to Market
Memphis connects the biosciences with the marketplace through its superior distribution and supply chain management capabilities. Memphis offers the lat¬est cut-off times for next-day delivery in the U.S. The city’s central location and proximity to the nation’s center-of-population, confer a natural logistics edge. Added to that is the world hub of FedEx, which has made Memphis International Airport the world’s busiest cargo airport for each of the last 18 years.
Readily Available Warehousing
Memphis has more than 176 million square feet of warehouse space with an average size for current construction of approximately 500,000 square feet (over 11 acres) per building.
Low Warehouse Lease Rates
We offer rates 25-65% lower than comparable space in cities like Atlanta, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Los Angeles.
Low Operating Costs
Memphis is one of the top 10 most affordable cities in North America and Europe in which to operate a biomedical business and the least expensive city in the southeastern U.S., according to The Boyd Company, a major business consulting firm. These costs include scientific and technical labor, office space, utilities, and other business requirements.
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