Prescription for Innovation Fort Worth breeds a diverse life sciences industry Story by Melanie Hill
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ort Worth’s life sciences sector is alive and well, part of a thriving industry metroplex that includes 450 biomedical companies and some 1,100 research, development and testing laboratories. Among the most recognizable names calling Fort Worth home is Alcon, the world’s largest, most profitable and specialized eye care company. Alcon, whose majority owner is pharmaceutical giant Novartis, was founded in Fort Worth by two pharmacists in 1945. Today, the company’s revenue is more than $6.5 billion and it sells surgical, pharmaceutical and consumer eye care products in more than 180 countries. The company’s Fort Worth presence includes the largest research and development lab of its kind, sizable manufacturing facilities and headquarters for its
major global operations. With nearly 3,200 employees, it is not only one of the region’s largest life sciences companies, but also one of its largest employers. In 2009, global dermatological pharmaceutical giant Galderma, a joint venture between French-based L’Oreal and Swiss-based Nestle, opened an administrative office and in-house training facility adjacent to its North American headquarters in Fort Worth. The company also has a 70,000-square-foot distribution facility at its Fort Worth campus. Fort Worth-based Healthpoint Ltd. specializes in developing technologies for the prevention and treatment of acute, chronic and burn-related wounds. In 2006, Healthpoint opened a research facility in Fort Worth that includes state-of-the-art laboratories. The company’s Wound Institute
promotes accredited industry education to health practitioners through such high-tech methods as animation, interactive cases and streaming video. The company, an affiliate of DFB Pharmaceuticals Inc., has branched into consumer products with its Outlast line of hand sanitizers that are designed to provide up to six hours of germ protection. Fort Worth Attracts Startups The region also attracts some of the nation’s most promising life science startups, including ZS Pharma Inc. The privately held specialty pharmaceutical company relocated to Fort Worth from Indiana in 2010. “The state of Texas has developed a very nice infrastructure to support biodevelopment,” says Dr. Alvaro Guillem, president and chief executive officer of ZS Pharma.
Jeff Keyser, chief operating officer of ZS Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical company that relocated to Fort Worth in 2010
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