Surges in jobs and R&D spending propel OKC to bioscience powerhouse

The Greater Oklahoma City’s biosciences cluster has made significant progress over the last two decades to become one of the region’s growth sectors, employing about 31,000 people and spending $316 million annually on research and development.

Those are just a few of the key findings in a recent study for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber by TEConomy Partner LLC, a global leader in research, analysis and strategy for innovation-driven economic development.

Since 2001, the biosciences cluster, which includes nonclinical biosciences industries and academic medical and other hospitals, has grown 28%. They also point out that since 2015, the industry has grown by 10.3%, keeping pace with national metrics.

The thousands of jobs created in the biosciences sector and the millions of dollars spent in R&D, rivals other emerging bioscience clusters across the country, including places such as Louisville, Ky.; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; and Salt Lake City.

“The emergence of the region’s bioscience sector has been phenomenal, and we are to be included with other emerging hubs across the country,” said Chamber President and CEO Christy Gillenwater. “It is exciting to witness all of the investments and resources being directed toward the biosciences, which bodes well for our city’s long-term future and growth in this far-reaching and, for many people, life-changing industry.”

One of the study’s many highlights is the growth of several subsectors in the region since 2015. Drug and pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs jumped 52%, fueled by a growing regional third-party manufacturing cluster. Medical device and equipment manufacturers have increased regional employment by 25%, while the bioscience-related distribution sector has grown by 16% and now produces more than 1,500 jobs.

The study stressed that industry and business leaders should take advantage of the current momentum in the regional biosciences industry to continue to invest in public and private sector infrastructure to support cluster growth. In 2021, the U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded the Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster a $35 million grant through its Build Back Better Regional Challenge to help expand Oklahoma City’s role as a national hub for drug development, testing and manufacturing. Two years earlier, OKC voters approved, as part of the MAPS 4 initiative, $10 million for the construction of an innovation hall in the city’s Innovation District.

The innovation hall will serve as a central place where activities to grow Oklahoma City’s innovation economy can be facilitated. It will house the Biomanufacturing Development Training Center, which will help meet the growing demand for skilled labor in the state’s bioscience cluster. The innovation hall will be part of a $177 million development known as Convergence: a 2.7-acre mixed-use development site.

“As was expressly stated during the successful Build Back Better grant process and repeatedly echoed by our Biotech Innovation Cluster, we must leverage the power that collaboration has created amongst all the biotech industry players in the region,” said John Hanak, chief innovation and corporate officer at the University of Oklahoma.

Stephanie Wickham, Ph.D., senior director of research and development at OKC pharmaceutical manufacturer Cytovance Biologics, said the growth of the bioscience cluster and its importance to the region is nothing short of inspirational.

“Harnessing the talent and ingenuity of the universities by providing resources and cultivating that into startup companies right here, we can attract even more to the state. We will also be able to tap into the hardworking backbone of the Oklahoma workforce, creating perfect synergy for the bioscience cluster and ultimately the state,” Dr. Wickham said.

Christian Kanady, founding partner and CEO of Echo, a venture capital firm based in Oklahoma City, echoed those thoughts, stating Oklahoma City’s emerging bioscience sector continues to make important strides.

“This progress is thanks to the alignment of numerous strategic partners committed to moving our region forward. Echo is proud to be part of these efforts to not only identify and leverage our strengths but further collaborate on areas to unlock innovation, develop our workforce, and ultimately, position our city to become the next biotech hub,” he said.

Jeff Seymour, executive vice president for economic development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber said that “while the region has continued to make great strides in building out a bioscience cluster, now is the time to lean further into the sector. Oklahoma City has a clear opportunity to play a larger role in the nation’s bioscience strategy and we are anxious to use this study to guide how we update the tools and partnerships we use to maximize growth.”

The region’s bioscience, biotechnology and health sector has grown into a nearly $7 billion industry. With established bioscience players such as the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation; the OU Health Sciences Center; several pharmaceutical manufacturers; and the proximity of two major research universities in OU and OSU, Oklahoma City is poised for continued growth in the bioscience sector.

This article previously appeared in the October 2023 edition of VeloCity newsletter.