Videos: Robotics company unveils its Houston operation at the Texas Medical Center

Meet the robots

ABB's mobile YuMi robot cut the ribbon on its new home in the Texas Medical Center. Cody Duty/TMC

Houston has a new fleet of robots training to better streamline health care operations. ABB Robotics cut the ribbon of its Texas Medical Center incubator on Wednesday, October 9.

"This is really an exciting day for us at ABB because we are opening up our innovation hub in a globally unique place at the Texas Medical Center," says Sami Atiya, president of Robotics and Discrete Automation at ABB, at the grand opening event.

According to ABB research, the industry expects 60,000 non-surgical medical robots by 2025, which is four times that of 2018. Zurich-based ABB has 400,000 robotics products across industries in over 53 companies, but this is their first dedicated health care center. The 5,300-square-foot space located in TMC Innovation Institute, which was announced earlier this year, will have around 20 employees in the facility managing robots conducting a myriad of tasks.

The potential for collaboration between ABB and TMC is just getting started with the hub space. ABB already has connections with TMC's member institutions and ABB also recognizes the innovation avenues the TMC brings to the table.

"This is not only about the chance to interact with 25 hospitals," Atiya says. "We have the chance to interact with bright startups, bright academia, and with an ecosystem that is unique. We really looked around the world to set up this business because we need to learn. We need to interact."

One way TMC's CEO, William McKeon sees a huge opportunity for robots is in the inventory process. Right now, each hospital manages its own inventory process with its own team of employees. McKeon explains how that process can be streamlined and better organized using robotics.

"It may not be as exciting as some of the things you see here [in the hub], but it's equally as meaningful and economically important in lowering our health care costs," McKeon says.

YuMi cuts the ribbon on the new ABB facility in the Texas Medical Center

The mobile YuMi robot cut the ribbon of its new home.

A new robotics facility is headed for the TMC Innovation Institute. Courtesy of TMC

TMC plans to open one-of-its-kind robotics facility later this year

The robots are coming

The Texas Medical Center has announced its plans to open a new robotics-equipped laboratory in October of this year. The automation capabilities will allow for more efficient lab tests and services.

The new facility is being made possible by a partnership between the medical center, TMC Innovation Institute, and ABB, a leading robotics company. This would be Zürich-based ABB's first dedicated health care center, but the company has over 400,000 robotics products across industries in over 53 countries.

"The next-generation laboratory processes developed in Houston will speed manual medical laboratory processes, reducing and eliminating bottlenecks in laboratory work and enhancing safety and consistency," says Sami Atiya, president of ABB's Robotics and Discrete Automation business, in a news release. "This is especially applicable for new high-tech treatments, such as the cancer therapies pioneered at the Texas Medical Center, which today require manual and time-consuming test processes."

A team of 20 will work out of the 5,300-square-foot facility, which will be located in TMC Innovation Institute. The space will have an automation laboratory with robot training facilities, and meeting spaces for the human innovation partners.

Currently, ABB's robots specialize in food and beverage laboratories worldwide, but able to adapt to medical facilities for specific tasks, including "dosing, mixing, and pipetting tasks, as well as sterile instrument kitting and centrifuge loading and unloading," according to the release.

"We are proud to co-develop collaborative robotics systems for the hospital of the future with one of the world's most advanced partners and to test them in real-world laboratories to ensure they add value to healthcare professionals, driving innovation, and transforming how medical laboratories operate worldwide," says Atiya in the release.

According to the release, TMC's connection to innovation, startups, and researchers were key factors in bringing the facility to Houston. ABB Robotics has a long-term plan to invest and innovate in robotics, says Atiya in the release.

"The Texas Medical Center continues to push the boundaries of innovation with cutting-edge industry partners by establishing TMC as the epicenter for ABB Robotics' entry into the healthcare space," says Bill McKeon, president and CEO of Texas Medical Center, in the release. "We continually strive for opportunities to accelerate research and enhance clinical care through key strategic partnerships. ABB's move into the heart of the Texas Medical Center campus with this first-of-its-kind R&D facility for creating robotics solutions in healthcare will set a new course for advancements in medicine."

Automation nation

Courtesy of TMC

A team of 20 will work out of the 5,300-square-foot facility, which will be located in TMC Innovation Institute.

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Eli Lilly breaks ground on $6.5B pharmaceutical factory in Houston

lilly lands

Leading pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly broke ground today, Sept. 21, on its $6.5 billion manufacturing site at Houston's Generation Park.

The 236-acre, state-of-the art factory is expected to come online in 2030 and will manufacture Foundayo, the company's first synthetic oral GLP-1 medication, as well as other advanced therapeutics.

"We are thrilled to break ground on our latest ‘medicines made in America’ site in the great state of Texas," David Ricks, Lilly chair and CEO, said in a prepared statement. "This $6.5 billion investment will help change the game for tens of millions of people suffering from overweight, obesity and its consequences like diabetes. We will make and ship Lilly’s latest products from Texas to people here at home and around the world.”

Houston was up against more than 300 locations in the U.S. for the factory, as part of Lilly’s $50 billion investment in domestic medicine production that has launched 10 manufacturing sites since 2020. Lilly first announced Houston had been selected for the site last September.

Photo via gov.texas.gov

As Abbott mentioned, the site is expected to create hundreds of jobs, and will hire engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians once up and running. It will create 4,000 construction jobs while being built.

In an effort to support workforce development, Lilly also announced a $12.5 million commitment to Houston's San Jacinto College in addition to a $2.5 million charitable donation to the San Jacinto College Foundation. The funding will go toward hands-on training, equipment and facilities to support future technicians, operators, maintenance professionals, and other manufacturing talent, according to Lilly. The charitable donation will fund scholarships for students.

"This relationship will build a strong, sustainable talent pipeline for Lilly while creating meaningful, high-demand career opportunities across our region,” Brenda Hellyer, chancellor of San Jacinto College, said in the release.

"When you invest in a place like Houston, you invest in its people first," Edgardo Hernandez, executive vice president and president of Lilly Manufacturing Operations, added. "This facility will run on the talent of this community, powered by our relationship with San Jacinto College. We're hiring across the greater Houston area to help residents build careers close to home."

Rendering courtesy Eli Lilly

Lilly previously said it chose Generation Park, a 4,300-acre, master-planned commercial district near Lake Houston, because of factors such as financial incentives, access to utilities and transportation and the region’s business-friendly environment. Generation Park is home to campuses for San Jacinto College and Lone Star College.

Since Lilly first announced plans for the site, another fellow pharma giant has made plans to move into Generation Park. Bristol Myers Squibb Co. announced last month that it would build a $2.3 billion factory in the district. The site is expected to manufacture small molecule, biologic and antibody-drug conjugates and will also come online around 2030. Read more here.

UH Health names leader of new digital health institute

new exec

Recently launched UH Health has named the first-ever executive director of its new Institute for Digital Healthcare Transformation at the University of Houston.

Beto López has been tapped to lead the new initiative that aims to help develop and commercialize health care technologies centered around university research.

Launched in August, the Institute for Digital Healthcare Transformation leans on experts from UH’s engineering, medicine, business, law and other departments and will connect with industry partners. It will initially focus on mobile health applications, sensors, wearables and artificial intelligence, according to UH.

“Most digital health initiatives and commercialization efforts start with the technology and hope adoption follows. But the translation gap isn't a science problem — it’s a scaffolding problem between researchers, the community and the market,” López said in a news release. “I've spent the past 10 years building that scaffolding in places that weren’t wired for it, and I'm looking forward to building it here at UH to help ensure new health care technologies reach the people and communities that can benefit from them most.”

López previously spent 10 years at San Francisco-based innovation consultancy company IDEO, where he led over 100 projects for Fortune 500 companies and public agencies. He co-founded and served as managing director of the Design Institute for Health at UT Austin’s Dell Medical School; and also co-founded a social venture studio/venture capital fund focused on health care innovation. He worked alongside Houston’s Legacy Community Health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Beto understands that breakthrough technology alone doesn't transform health care — it has to be designed around the needs of patients, providers and communities and have a clear path into practice,” Jonathan McCullers, vice president for health affairs at UH, added in the news release. “His experience spanning academic health care and venture capital equips him to bring together researchers, health care organizations, entrepreneurs and investors. This makes him uniquely suited to lead this institute and help turn the university's innovation into solutions that improve people's lives.”

The University of Houston launched UH Health, its new cross-disciplinary academic venture, in July. It aims to bring together the university's health-related education, research and community impact under one umbrella.

ExxonMobil gets approval for $5B Texas Gulf Coast carbon capture project

CCS Expansion

Spring-based ExxonMobil has won approval from the Texas Railroad Commission for a $5 billion carbon capture and storage project in East Texas.

Dominic Genetti, senior vice president of CCS at ExxonMobil, told The Financial Times, which broke the news, that the Railroad Commission’s action is a “major milestone” that lets the company keep expanding along the Gulf Coast. In a 2-1 vote, commissioners authorized a carbon sequestration permit for the project.

“The Railroad Commission clearly recognizes the important role carbon capture and storage can play in meeting growing global demand for lower-carbon products while supporting new jobs and economic growth,” Genetti said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved ExxonMobil’s Rose CCS project last year.

The project will enable the company to inject about 53 metric tons of industrial customers’ carbon emissions into three underground wells it drilled in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area. Over a 13-year period, ExxonMobil plans to inject about 4 million metric tons per year into the Fleming and Upper Frio rock formations, according to Carbon Herald.

ExxonMobil says it owns the world’s first and largest CCS system, comprising 1,300 miles of CO2 pipeline and secure storage sites. Seventy percent of the pipelines are along the Gulf Coast.

The company ramped up its CCS business in 2023 with the $4.9 billion purchase of Denbury, which owned about 1,000 miles of CO2 pipelines.

“Our expertise, combined with Denbury’s talent and CO2 pipeline network, expands our low-carbon leadership and best positions us to meet the decarbonization needs of industrial customers while also reducing emissions in our own operations,” ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said when the deal closed.

In January, Genetti wrote in a post on ExxonMobil’s website that the company is committed to CCS “for the long haul.”

“CCS is not new technology, but it’s flown relatively under the radar compared with the attention that production of hydrocarbons commands,” he wrote. “Now, as the world becomes more aware of the need to reduce emissions, CCS finally has a brighter spotlight and a broader runway to scale up.”

The company also announced this week that it has begun CCS operations at a direct reduced iron facility in Convent, Louisiana. The project will capture, transport and store up to 800,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, according to the company.

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This article first appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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