Report: Houston is primed for a boom in these life science subsectors

by the numbers

According to a new report, Houston has potential to lead three life science subsectors: cell and gene therapy manufacturing, molecular diagnostics, and biologics drug development and manufacturing. Photo via Getty Images

A new report found that Houston has great potential across a handful of life science subsectors.

The study by Newmark Consulting Group was commissioned by the Greater Houston Partnership and sponsored by San Jacinto College, Lone Star College, Houston Community College, and McCord Development. It looked at the region's existing resources and value proposition in the life sciences sector.

According to the report, Houston is home to industry-leading expertise in three subsectors: cell and gene therapy manufacturing, molecular diagnostics, and biologics drug development and manufacturing.

From a workforce perspective, the city has a steady flow of new talent from regional universities and "an emerging and robust commitment by community colleges to support two-year degree pathways to meet industry demands and the ability for life science companies to grow and thrive in the market," per the report. The findings led to identifying the next steps for the Houston region to capitalize on these advantages.

“The Newmark study confirms what we knew to be true about the potential for life sciences growth in Houston,” says Susan Davenport, GHP's chief economic development officer, in a news release. “The study will help us coalesce our regional partners around a cohesive strategy to grow and expand the industry in Houston.”

The report's other key findings included:

  • Houston consistently ranks as a top-15 market for life sciences employment nationwide and first in Texas with nearly 700 life science companies operating in town.
  • The Bayou City has the densest patient population in the world, which allows for transformational clinical applications.
  • The city's diverse workforce, extensive university ecosystem, education infrastructure, and research institutions sets a scene for Houston to capture extensive subsector gains.
  • Houston ranks second in the nation in clinical trial volume with more than 4,600 currently active clinical trials, which is representing 15 percent of all active U.S. trials.
  • In 2021, Houston-area institutions attracted $864.1 million in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, which is up 16.3 percent from 2020. On average over the past five years, the region received $740.7 million per year in NIH funding for a total of $3.9 billion.
  • Houston is home to more than 26,000 non-healthcare life science employees.
  • The region's life sciences workforce ranks No. 12 in the nation, on par with numbers reported for Research Triangle Park.
In light of the report, the GHP is recommending a few action items, including "accelerating workforce development programs to produce new graduates in key life sciences occupations, refining Houston’s marketing messages to highlight the region’s existing life science assets and activities within life science R&D and manufacturing," per the report. Additionally, the GHP identified the need to develop a shared regional strategy to attract and retain leading life sciences companies.
To lead these initiatives, the GHP has assembled task forces, which will be led by the organization’s Life Sciences Committee, chaired by Ferran Prat, senior vice president of Industry Relations and Research at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Houston — home to the largest medical center — ranks No. 13 on a list of top life science labor markets. Photo via TMC

Here's how Houston ranks as a life science market, according to a new report

by the numbers

For Houston’s life sciences sector, 13 is a very lucky number.

The Houston metro area ranks 13th in CBRE’s first-ever analysis of the country’s top 25 U.S. labor markets for life sciences. Houston’s collective brain power helped cement its place on the list.

The Boston-Cambridge area tops the ranking. Houston is the highest-ranked Texas market, ahead of No. 16 Dallas-Fort Worth and No. 18 Austin.

Dallas-based CBRE, a provider of commercial real estate services, lauds Houston for its “attractive combination” of affordability and a deep pool of Ph.D.-level talent, as well as the presence of major research universities and medical institutions.

Scott Carter, senior vice president of life sciences and healthcare in CBRE’s Houston office, says those factors make Houston “an attractive market for life sciences industry expansion.”

“Houston is projected to lead the nation in population growth over the next five years, which will only strengthen the appeal of its labor market,” Carter says.

Houston boasts the nation’s highest wages in the life sciences sector compared with the cost of living, the analysis shows. Meanwhile, Ph.D. recipients account for 18.5 percent of the 1,300 biological and biomedical sciences degrees granted each year in the Houston area — the highest concentration nationwide. And Houston produces 4.2 percent of such Ph.D. recipients in the U.S. — more than all but a few major life sciences markets do.

“Millions of square feet and billions of dollars of life sciences development is underway or planned in Houston to break down longtime silos between commercial, academic, and medical sectors,” Carter says. “Leveraging the unmatched scale of the Texas Medical Center, these new moon-shot investments are building a launchpad to rocket Space City into a new era as a global hub for scientific and human progress.”

Underscoring the rapid rise of the city’s innovation ecosystem, Houston enjoys one of the country’s fastest-growing pipelines for VC funding in life sciences. Here, VC funding in the sector rose 937 percent in the past five years, compared with the nationwide increase of 345 percent, according to CBRE.

For its analysis, CBRE assessed each market based on several criteria, including its number of life sciences jobs and graduates, its share of the overall job and graduate pool in life sciences, its number of Ph.D. recipients in life sciences, and its concentration of jobs in the broader professional, scientific, and technical services professions.

In 2020, CBRE ranked Houston as the No. 2 emerging hub for life sciences in a report, which factored in size and growth of life-sciences employment, the venture capital and National Institutes of Health funding, and more.

Atul Varadhachary, managing partner of Fannin Innovation Studio, says that now is the time to invest in life sciences. Photo via Getty Images

Innovation studio aims to put Houston on the map for life science startup development

fostering innovation

In a report last year from commercial real estate services company JLL, Boston took the crown for hosting the country's top life sciences ecosystem. Houston ranked 11th.

The difference between Houston and Boston "is not the innovation, it's not the technology, it's not the money. It's that we don't have experienced life sciences entrepreneurs," says Dr. Atul Varadhachary, managing partner of Houston's Fannin Innovation Studio, a for-profit entity that commercializes biotech and medtech concepts.

Fannin has tried to replicate Boston's robust life sciences ecosystem "in a really, really tiny way" via its fellowship program, Varadhachary says. But the reach of the program could be even greater, he believes.

Varadhachary makes a case for tripling or even quadrupling the number of participants in Fannin's federally accredited fellowship program. He says this one relatively small investment could push Houston closer to Boston in the life sciences stratosphere.

Atul Varadhachary is the managing partner of Houston's Fannin Innovation Studio. Photo via fannininnovation.com

To be sure, Houston is no slouch in life sciences. For instance, commercial real estate services company CBRE issued a report last fall ranking Houston second among the country's top emerging clusters for life sciences. But cities like Boston, San Francisco, and San Diego still reign as life sciences royalty in the U.S.

Fannin typically taps five people at a time — folks who've recently earned a master's degree, medical degree or PhD — for a two-year fellowship in life sciences entrepreneurship and commercialization. The initiative is comparable to a post-doctorate program in research or medicine. The Fannin fellows collaborate with therapeutics and medical device companies in the studio's portfolio, gaining hands-on training in facets of business like R&D, intellectual property, regulatory matters, and financing.

Today, five fellows and seven interns work at Fannin. The fellowship program launched in 2006; the internship program started a year earlier. In all, Fannin has welcomed more than 250 fellows and interns. Some of them have gone on to work at Houston organizations such as TMC Innovation, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the University of Houston.

Varadhachary believes boosting the fellowship headcount to perhaps 15 instead of the current five would be a small price to pay to help elevate Houston's status in life sciences. The full cost of each fellowship is less than $100,000 a year, so bringing aboard another 10 fellows would require an extra annual commitment of under $1 million. That kind of money isn't in Fannin's budget, though.

"I can think of nothing that could give a bigger return on investment for the city," Varadhachary says of expanding Fannin's fellowship program.

More fellows would mean more entrepreneurs equipped to run or start life sciences businesses in Houston, he says. Varadhachary acknowledges the value of efforts like the soon-to-open TMC3 life sciences hub and the recently opened Ion entrepreneurship hub, but he'd like to see more emphasis placed on nurturing people and not just startups.

Varadhachary says the "the one single thing" that Houston could do to increase its probability of success in life sciences, particularly in therapeutics, would be to crank up cultivation of entrepreneurial talent.

"By and large, I don't think know that this community appreciates how important and how under-resourced that whole people-development piece is," he says. "It's not something that comes from taking classes or watching. It comes from doing."

Andrea Letkeman, director of professional development at Fannin, says the fellows initially work one-on-one with a senior executive on projects, then eventually graduate to running their own projects. Fellows also get a close-up look at other projects underway at Fannin.

Varadhachary wants to get Fannin fellows excited "about what we're doing in Houston, and then give them an opportunity to be part of our ecosystem."

Some Fannin fellows have been hired on a full-time basis by the studio, or they've moved into jobs at venture capital firms, life sciences startups, or other players in the ecosystem, according to Letkeman. She says the fellows lend "energy and vibrancy" to Fannin.

"I think that the Fannin model is fairly unique for Houston. There are models that are similar, across the country, to what we do. But there's not enough of them, quite frankly, for the number of people that are interested in these kinds of roles," Letkeman says.

"There is talent that is looking for a way to bridge the gap between academia and real-world commercialization," she adds. "There's just not enough opportunities out there for them."

Kevin Coker, CEO of Proxima Clinical Research, say his company transform from uncertainty to almost uncontrollable growth in just 12 months. He shares what happened on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. Photo courtesy of Proxima

Houston health tech company bounces back from COVID-19 in a big way

HOUSTON INNOVATORS PODCAST EPISODE 82

The pandemic hit life science innovation hard. And no one knows that better than Kevin Coker, co-founder and CEO of Proxima Clinical Research, a Houston-based contract research organization focused on supporting life science startups as they grow and scale.

"Last year from January to June, it was very tough," Coker says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "Hospitals shut down, so any existing projects we had ongoing just halted."

Coker and his team of 12 — including co-founder and chairman, Larry Lawson — at the time didn't have any new projects coming in and were at the mercy of the pandemic.

"Everything was flat. In May, I was starting to worry. I didn't know how long we were going to have to weather the storm," Coker remembers.

Then, in June, things started changing, he says. As hospitals started to reopen and clinical research was reignited. Initially, some COVID diagnostic products were gaining momentum, as well as some emergency use authorization products.

"Things just really started taking off for us," Coker says. "I think it was really a product of investors and people being able to make decisions despite the pandemic."

Coker describes the experience not as a rollercoaster — it was all downhill for Proxima and then business took flight. Last quarter, the company was signing a new contract every two to three days. With the influx of projects, Coker says his team scaled to 50 full time employees and 75 part time team members — most of these new additions Coker hasn't even met yet, since the staff has been working remotely.

"We're a good barometer for what's happening not only locally but across the country," Coker says. "As Proxima has grown, it's really show how the Houston life science market is growing."

Now, Coker is focused on maintaining the company culture at Proxima as well as finding a new, larger office space in the Texas Medical Center — Proxima's current office is in the TMC Innovation Institute.

Coker says it's his intention to keep its operations smaller and more hands on than the usual CRO, which typically has 5,000 to 10,000 employees and multi-billion dollars in revenue, and focused on startups and small companies.

"That type of organization doesn't work well with a small med device or pharmaceutical company. We wanted to create a company that looked and felt like the startups," he says.

Coker shares more about Proxima's growth and Houston's potential of being a major life science hub on the episode. Listen to the full interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.

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Houston university ranks No. 10 best in the U.S. in new 2027 report

Rice Ranking

Education ranking and review website Niche has released its 2027 rankings of the best colleges in the U.S., and Rice University leads as the No. 1 best university in Texas, and No. 10 best nationwide.

Niche's annual rankings compared over 4,000 colleges and universities based on their academics, value, student life, career preparation, and more. Schools receive letter grades across 14 metrics, which were expanded this year to include Student Wellness and Future Readiness.

Also new to this year's rankings, Niche implemented an "Institutional Success Score" that "places every college into one of 10 mission-based categories" and compared each school against "outcomes aligned with that mission," which included research institutions, social mobility-focused colleges, and religious institutions, among others.

Rice University ranked 10th in three national lists: Best Colleges in America, Top Private Universities, and Colleges with the Best Professors.

Rice also received the following top-100 rankings:

  • No. 11 – Most Diverse Colleges
  • No. 14 – Best College Campuses
  • No. 15 – Colleges With the Best Academics
  • No. 20 – Colleges With the Best Student Life
  • No. 23 – Hardest Colleges To Get Into
  • No. 27 – Best Colleges for Student Athletes
  • No. 69 – Best College Dorms
  • No. 70 – Best Value Colleges
  • No. 74 – Best College Locations
  • No. 89 – Best College Food
On the local front, University of Houston and two of its branch campuses also ranked among the top 20 best universities in Texas. UH ranked a respectable No. 7 in the statewide list, and it ranked as the 123rd best university in the U.S. It fared better in the nationwide list of the Best Big Colleges, appearing at No. 53, and ranked 54th in Niche's Top Public Universities list.


The University of Houston-Clear Lake branch ranked as the 11th best Texas university and came in at No. 192 overall. It's the 33rd Best Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), the 69th Best Value College, and it ranked 89th in the Top Public Universities list.

University of Houston Downtown is the 13th Best Online College in America, the 15th best university in Texas, and it's the 49th Best HSI in America. In the overall list of the best universities, UHD ranked 231st.Top education institutions across Texas

Three other Texas universities outside Houston excelled on Niche's list of the 100 Best Colleges in America.

The University of Texas at Austin ranked second statewide and 30th nationwide, and topped the list of Colleges With the Best Student Life. UT Austin also racked up top-10 acclaim in the separate lists of the Best College Locations (No. 4), Top Public Universities (No. 5), Best Big Colleges (No. 6), Best College Campuses (No. 10), and Best Colleges For Student Athletes (No. 10).

Texas A&M University in College Station and Trinity University in San Antonio round out the remaining Texas institutions that ranked among the top 100 overall. The Aggies ranked 52nd nationwide, and the Trinity Tigers ranked 65th overall.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

10 can't-miss events at Houston Energy and Climate Week 2026

HECW lineup

Editor's note: Houston Energy and Climate Week returns for its third year, Sept. 12–18, with panels, happy hours, pitch days and tours focused on the energy transition.

The Ion District will host many of the week's events. Here are details on some can't-miss, signature events and how to register. Find the full schedule here. Please note: this article may be updated to add more events.

Sept. 13 — The & Awards

Kick off the week by celebrating Houston honorees leading the future of energy at the & Awards. The & Awards will honor Zay Zeidman, chairman of Houston First and managing partner of Altitude Ventures; The University of Houston's Renu Khator and Ramanan Krishnamoorti; Maryanne Maldonado, CEO of the World Affairs Council; and Fervo Energy co-founders Tim Latimer (CEO) and Jack Norbeck (CTO). The inaugural posthumous Lifetime Ambassador Award will honor former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and this year’s Allies in Energy grant recipients will also be recognized. The evening will include a fireside chat, an immersive gallery, live music, passed hors d'oeuvres, Champagne and plenty of networking opportunities.

This event is Sunday, Sept. 13, from 6-9 p.m. at ARTECHOUSE Houston. Register here.

Sept. 14 — Brews on the Bayou

Head to Saint Arnold Brewery for a more laid-back kickoff event. Grab a beer and take in a live conversation with Paul Hobby, managing director of Genesis Park, and Katie Mehnert, CEO of The Bee Suite and co-founder of HECW. Rice University's Aaron Pomerantz will moderate the discussion. Then hear a live performance from AY Young.

This event is Monday, Sept. 14, from 6-9 p.m. at Saint Arnold Brewery. Register here.

Sept. 14–18 — Sip For Sustainability

Enjoy a signature cocktail at five H Town Restaurant Group spots each night of Houston Energy and Climate Week. A portion of every purchase will go toward Allies in Energy, which supports education, collaboration, and community programs that drive a more sustainable future. Participating eateries include Hugo's, Xochi, Uber, Zaranda and Caracol.

These events begin Monday, Sept. 14, from 3-5 p.m. Find more information on each day's happy hour here.

Sept. 15 — HTX Tech Tours

HECW will present two Tech Tours this year, offering attendees a closer look at the region's climatech scene. The Metro Innovation Tour & Market will visit Sugar Land Town Square, Shell Technology Center Houston, SLB West Houston Campus, University of Houston at Sugar Land, Ambrosia Space, NanoTech Materials and Syzygy Plasmonics. The Bay City South Innovation Tour will visit Sugar Land Town Square and Erthos Project Bravo in Matagorda County. Both tours will head to Astros Night at Daikin Park to wrap up the day.

These events are Tuesday, Sept. 15. Find more information here.

Sept. 15 — Meet the Activate Houston Cohort 2026 Fellows

Meet Activate's latest cohort, which was named this summer, and learn more about their hardtech and climate-focused solutions. Also meet founders from the organization’s 2025 cohort during Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 5-7 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

Sept. 15 – Cypher Pilotathon and Startup Showcase

Grab coffee and take in keynotes and panels featuring leaders from Amperon, Aramco Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Syzygy Plasmonics and many others during this signature event, this year under the theme “The NEW Energy Industrial Revolution.” After lunch, hear pitches from 31 ventures during the Pilotathon. This year's event will also feature a startup showcase with interactive booths where attendees can meet founders and see demonstrations, plus an industry hub where corporates and investors can engage with emerging technologies and identify the pilots they want to move forward with.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at POST Houston. Get tickets here.

Sept. 15 — Houston Astros Energy Night

Catch a game and chat with fellow clean energy enthusiasts during Houston Astros Energy Night. The 'Stros take on the Kansas City Royals. A bonus? Dollar Hot Dog Night at Daikin Park.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 15, starting at 7:10 p.m. at Daikin Park. Get tickets here.

Sept. 16 — Greentown Labs Climatech Summit

Entrepreneurs, investors, corporate leaders, policymakers and philanthropists will head to Houston this month for the annual Greentown Climatetech Summit. Hear from Greentown CEO Georgina Campbell Flatter and keynote speaker Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Houston geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy, plus numerous other engaging panels at the Ion. Then head to Greentown Labs for an open house and startup showcase, where attendees can meet some of the climatech incubators' members, before taking in the startup pitch competition followed by happy hour over at the Continental Club.

This event is Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. at multiple locations. Register here.

Sept. 17 — Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum

Hear from clean energy startups from around the world at the 23rd annual Energy Tech Venture Forum. In addition to the pitches, this event will also host keynotes from Sean Maher, chief economist at Phillips 66, and Ira Ehrenpreis, founder and managing partner of DBL Partner. Panels will focus on technologies, infrastructure and commercialization strategies needed to deploy breakthrough innovations at scale. Following the event, the Rice Alliance will also name its annual “Most Promising” startup.

This event is Thursday, Sept. 17, from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. Register here.

Sept. 18 — Halliburton Labs Finalists Pitch Day

Hear from Halliburton Labs' latest cohort of entrepreneurs. The incubator aims to advance the companies’ commercialization with support from Halliburton's network, facilities and financing opportunities. Its latest cohort includes one company from Texas.

This event is Friday, Sept. 18, from 8 a.m.-noon at The Ion. Register here.

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

2 leading Texas universities rank among world’s best for entrepreneurs

honor roll

The Lone Star State’s two biggest universities—the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University—rank among the world’s best schools for entrepreneurs.

PitchBook’s annual list of the world’s top 100 universities for entrepreneurs takes into account both undergraduate and graduate programs. PitchBook analyzed more than 222,000 startup founders whose startups are VC-backed.

UT’s “unique” advantage

UT Austin landed at No. 10 on the list, down from No. 8 last year. PitchBook identified 1,002 UT-alumni founders at 948 startups. Collectively, those startups have raised $34.7 billion, according to PitchBook.

Among the 948 UT Austin-affiliated startups, these five have raised the most capital:

  • No. 1 Tucson, Arizona-based World View, $2.8 billion
  • No. 2 Austin-based Apptronik, $966 million
  • No. 3 Mountain View, California-based Lightmatter, $821 million
  • No. 4 Austin-based Function Health, $807 million
  • No. 5. San Francisco-based Niantic, $779 million

“The unique UT Austin advantage is the alignment between the university and the city,” Foundra.ai says. “Unlike schools where the campus ecosystem and the local startup scene are disconnected, Austin’s startup community actively recruits UT students and alumni, and UT programs actively send students into the local ecosystem.”

Texas A&M’s “living laboratory”

UT Austin’s biggest in-state rival, Texas A&M, appeared at No. 79 on the list, down from No. 76 last year. PitchBook tallied 317 A&M-alumni founders at 295 startups. Collectively, those startups have raised $9.8 billion, according to PitchBook.

Among the 317 A&M-affiliated startups, these five have raised the most capital:

  • No. 1 Austin-based RigUp, $817 million
  • No. 2 Austin-based ICON, $543 million
  • No. 3 Scottsdale, Arizona-based HomeLight, $413 million
  • No. 4 Everett, Washington-based Zap Energy, $326 million
  • No. 5 San Diego-based Splice Therapeutics, $320 million

A cornerstone of Texas A&M’s entrepreneurship offerings is the Center for Applied Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Mays School of Business. The business school says the center “helps students explore, test, build, buy, and transform businesses in real markets.”

“Grounded in Texas as a living laboratory and guided by the Aggie core values, the center advances applied learning through industry engagement, AI-enabled experimentation, and collaboration across Mays and Texas A&M,” the business school says.

The most “exceptional” schools on PitchBook’s list

In announcing its rankings, PitchBook said: “Great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, but some universities have a truly exceptional track record of attracting and producing future founders.”

The most exceptional universities, based on PitchBook’s criteria, are:

  • No. 1 University of California, Berkeley
  • No. 2 Stanford University
  • No. 3 Harvard University
  • No. 4 Cornell University
  • No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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