A collation of Texas cities, including San Antonio, has landed one of three national hubs from the new federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, an agency expected to send billions on healthcare research in the coming years.
The physical site of the hub will be in Dallas, but San Antonio’s healthcare and biotechnology sectors will have a large role. The Texas presence will focus on customer experience, access to trials and diversification of clinical trials as the agency seeks to advance treatments for a wide range of conditions.
BioMedSA led local efforts, joined by BioBridge Global, UT Health San Antonio, Texas Biomed and others. Healthcare and biotechnology combine for $44 billion in impact a year in San Antonio, making it the city’s largest economic sector, according to the San Antonio Express-News report on the hub announcement.
“We are thrilled with the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health’s selection of Texas as a biomedical research hub,” BioBridge Global CEO Marty Landon said. “San Antonio has long demonstrated how its collaborative approach to research, from the bench to the bedside, has led to timely and effective innovation, particularly during the recent COVID pandemic.
“BioBridge Global is honored to participate in this endeavor, with the many other quality Texas institutions supporting this hub.”
The agency announced its investor catalyst hub will be located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a stakeholder and operations hub will be established in the Washington, D.C., area. It is part of the National Institutes of Health and launched with a $2.5 billion budget, reported the San Antonio Business Journal.
The Dallas location will be in the Pegasus Park campus. Healthcare organizations from Austin and Houston also will be part of the hub’s efforts in Texas. The announcement was the result of more than two years of collaboration from organizations across the state.
