Success in biosciences has been building for decades for OKC

In the early 2000s, community leaders in Oklahoma City came together to create a comprehensive roadmap for the bioscience industry in the region to fully maximize the impact the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center had been having for decades.

In the years since the community started to strategically invest in Oklahoma City’s bioscience sector, the results show that everyone has benefited.

Bioscience companies are seeing more consistent “wins” than ever before. Novartis’ purchase of Selexys Pharmaceuticals for $665 million, Crescendo Bioscience being purchased by Myriad Supply and Genzyme’s purchase of Novazyme Pharmaceuticals are some of the most recent examples.

These wins have resulted in more high-paying jobs for Oklahoma City’s residents and further diversification of the local economy.

The most recent estimates show that bioscience companies in Oklahoma City support 51,000 workers with total compensation of $2.2 billion.

In Oklahoma City, bioscience and health care are symbiotic industries and the success of one leads to the growth of the other. Over the past decade, health care employment has grown by 12% in Oklahoma’s capital city.

The impact health care has on the local economy is staggering. There are more than 76,000 total health care jobs in Oklahoma City accounting for more than 11% of employment in the metro. These jobs also pay 15% more than the average compensation across all industries.

The investment in these industries is just beginning in Oklahoma City.

In 2019, the citizens of Oklahoma City approved a $71 million investment in the burgeoning Innovation District as part of MAPS 4. This investment includes funds to encourage further development for minority-owned small businesses, better connectivity in and around the district and the construction of an “Innovation Hall” to serve as a central place where activities to grow our city’s innovation economy can be facilitated.

The past 15 years of strategic community investment and groundbreaking discoveries have led to high-paying jobs for citizens and the development of life-saving treatments right here in Oklahoma City. For more on Bioscience in OKC click here.

This article originally appeared on The Better Life blog.