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Fitzsimons Innovation Community Wins CBSA Building Momentum Award
CBSA Building Momentum Award Announcement
Fitzsimons Innovation Community is the inaugural recipient of the Colorado BioScience Association’s new Award: Building Momentum. This award recognizes investments an honoree is making to advance Colorado’s life sciences community and better position the entire ecosystem for growth. For Fitzsimons Innovation Community, expansion and growth are just part of the story. The Community focuses on supporting people, fostering connections, and creating an environment that helps spark discoveries.
Colorado BioScience Association President and CEO, Elyse Blazevich asked April Giles, Fitzsimons Innovation Community Vice President of Business Development key questions about the momentum building at Fitzsimons Innovation Community.
Shown L-R: Tony Fraij, General Manager and Site Head, AGC Biologics; Kiki Traylor, M.D., CBSA Board of Directors Chair and Amgen Director of State Government Affairs; April Giles, Vice President of Business Development, Fitzsimons Innovation Community; Elyse Blazevich, President & CEO, CBSA.
Q: Tell us more about the momentum building at Fitzsimons Innovation Community
A: We’ve seen so much growth and development over the past year. The state of Colorado is continuing its path to becoming a top hub in the country for life sciences enterprise, currently ranking 8th in North America. With the highest concentration of bioengineering and biomedical talent in the country, more than 720 companies working on life-saving breakthroughs, and almost 35,000 jobs created, Colorado is officially a destination for innovation, specialized lab space, and raising the investment capital—more than $2.4 billion in 2021—to cover all of the above. Fitzsimons Innovation Community is proud to be right in the thick of it.From pharmaceuticals to molecular biology to medical devices, our Community members are watching their discoveries find the exact momentum they need within our customized buildings and amenity-filled campus. With more than 80 visionary organizations and more than 800 jobs on our grounds, it’s no wonder we’ve seen such impressive developments. Last year alone we had:
- $25 million in raised capital
- 12 new patents
- 16 new innovations, with 61% of our Community organizations having a strategic breakthrough
It’s numbers like these that let us know the momentum is real.
Q: What are the key ingredients Fitzsimons possesses to accelerate momentum?
A: Our Community members work across the street from the renowned University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Colorado with two million patient visits a year, giving them direct access to expert clinicians and researchers. It’s a science and healthcare education mecca with a deep talent pool for both collaboration and recruiting.
We invest in a collaborative, entrepreneurial community to attractinnovators representing early stage, emerging, and established companies with a readily available talent pipeline.
Fitzsimons Innovation Community is the only organization in the Rocky Mountain West that offers specialized life sciences lab and office space with the opportunity to work alongside researchers and clinicians at a world-class research destination.
And, we have more than 50 acres of prime development space on our campus. At full buildout, Fitzsimons Innovation Community will have apartments, restaurants, schools, a park, and a hotel––all the things for a vibrant, dynamic, thriving life sciences community––and 45,000 jobs.
Q: Our state is well-positioned to advance the growth of cell and gene therapy, with a critical mass of companies in Colorado. How will Fitzsimons Innovation Community meet the trend?
A: By our count, Colorado has more than 30 cell and gene therapy companies in the state. These companies are currently raising 230 million dollars in funding rounds.
Fitzsimons Innovation Community is building out Bioscience 5. The 90,000-square-foot facility is the first building in the Fitzsimons Innovation Community with full-scale manufacturing, for cell and gene therapy. It’s designed to support our member companies’ overall development and optimize the scientific advancements within the Community ecosystem. We’re ready to partner with innovators seeking to expand their manufacturing operations.
Additionally, our partners at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Gates Frontier Fund are investing 200 million dollars in a joint venture to create the Gates Institute, focused on fueling groundbreaking research in cell and gene therapies. Gates Biomanufacturing Facility, a member of our Community, has pioneered new therapies in recent years.
Q: What can we look forward to in 2023 from Fitzsimons Innovation Community?
A: With life sciences real estate a high-value need across the country, our Community will continue to the work to meet lab space needs supporting startups, growth, and commercial companies with space to expand––from half a bench to corporate headquarters.
The next addition for our Community will be Bioscience 4, which is slated to break ground next year. We are modeling it now. Bioscience 4 will deliver additional startup lab space with speculative labs, plus a core and shell, to attract and support new members and enable current member companies to accelerate and grow.
Thank you to our sponsor:
