Industry Snapshot

Economy/Cost of Living | Education
Recreation & Entertainment | Transportation | Geography & Climate
History | Suggested Reading List

Missouri boasts a prolific biotechnology and life science industry. With its outstanding educational institutions, associations, and ample company base, Missouri promises continued success in the sector.

Missouri prides itself on its educational system. Many universities aid the biotechnology and life science industry by providing cutting edge research, offering technology transfer assistance, and providing interdisciplinary strength. The University of Missouri-St. Louis provides their Office of Research Administration, which assists with technology transfer. The University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) boasts outstanding research programs and is home to many research centers, such as their Agricultural Experiment Station Research Farms and the National Center for Soybean Technology. Additionally, MU offers the University of Missouri Office of Intellectual Property Administration, which provides processing of invention disclosure forms, estimates new technology feasibility, seeks intellectual property protection, and manages reporting and compliance for research contracts. The University of Missouri-Kansas City Intellectual Property Management (IPM) offers business development and technology commercialization assistance to University and business ventures. Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) boasts an impressive School of Medicine, which receives over $460 million in support, aiding 750 individual research projects. Additionally, WUSTL offers the new initiative, BioMed 21, which aims to collect and dedicate over $300 million in resources, including NIH support, toward defining new spaces to house promising research programs.

Several organizations and incubators help to foster the biotechnology and life science industry in Missouri. The Center for Emerging Technologies is a public-private-academic partnership that works regionally and statewide to foster and support new technologies by research institutions, entrepreneurs, and industry researchers. The Illinois-Missouri Biotechnology Alliance (IMBA) represents a partnership of the University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University, and the University of Missouri, whose purpose is to address opportunities of plant biotechnology and its related concerns, with the goal of keeping the U.S. food and agriculture sector economically vital. The Missouri Biotechnology Association (MOBIO) is a not-for-profit trade association dedicated to developing and growing the Missouri biotechnology and biomedical industry. MOBIO supports basic life science research, develops life science educational material, and provides intellectual property services, among many other benefits. The Missouri Innovation Center (MIC) is a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is assisting in the formation and incubation of technology ventures, with the ultimate goal of growing the technology industry cluster in mid-Missouri. The Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise offers a 40,000 square foot (0.004 square kilometer or 0.37 hectare) facility with 24 laboratories with wet or dry capability, and serves clients refining and preparing new biotechnology related technologies for commercialization. University Park at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville contains a Biotechnology Laboratory Incubator with individual wet labs that can house up to 12 entrepreneurial science companies.

Missouri hosts many globally recognized biotech and pharmaceutical companies within its borders. Among these are Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc. in St. Louis; KV Pharmaceutical Company in St. Louis; Monsanto Company in St. Louis; Pfizer Inc. in St. Louis; Chlorogen in St. Louis; Divergence, Inc. in St. Louis; Kereos, Inc. in St. Louis; Orion Genomics in St. Louis; Stereotaxis in St. Louis; Apath, LLC in St. Louis; Genotech in St. Louis; Chromaprobe, Inc. in Maryland Heights; ISTO Technologies, Inc. in St. Louis; Mediomics, LLC in St. Louis; Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. in St. Joseph; Certus International, Inc. in Chesterfield; Inovatia Laboratories, LLC in Fayette; Proteon Therapeutics, Inc. in Kansas City; Syntec, Inc. in Winfield; and Novus International, Inc. in St. Louis, among others.

Many centers for research reside in Missouri. The Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City conducts basic research on genes and proteins toward the goal of finding causes, treatment, and prevention for gene-based disease. The Stowers Institute operates from a 10 acre (0.04 square kilometer or 4.0 hectare) campus with a 600,000 square foot (0.056 square kilometer or 5.6 hectare), $300 million facility with laboratories and research support services. The National Center for Soybean Biotechnology (NCSB), located at the University of Missouri-Columbia, was designated by the U.S. Congress for providing innovative molecular approaches that can be applied toward soybean improvement. The NCSB provides an interdisciplinary, collaborative research program and focuses on problems affecting soybean production, which affects the economy of several states that rely upon the plant. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis is a not-for-profit research institute whose aim is to enhance the nutritional content of plants to improve human health, increase agricultural production for a sustainable food supply, and support economic growth in the state and region. The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) in Edwardsville is a non-for-profit center whose goal is creating near-term technologies for sustainable, renewable fuel production. The Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia offers core research facilities, such as the Proteomics Center and Structural Biology Core, in addition to services provided by the Industrial Research Relations Office. The Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis offers one of the world’s top botanical and conservation institutions for plants, and boasts an extraordinary herbarium and library to aid research.

With its diverse resources, Missouri offers tremendous promise for continuing the success of its biotechnology and life science industry.

Back to Destination Missouri