Ahead of our ECHAlliance Global Health Connector at ViVE, we are very excited to welcome our Bioscience LA Ecosystem from the United States. Read this interview with Dave Whelan, Chief Executive Officer at BioscienceLA.
Who are the key stakeholders?
As a catalyst for innovation, BioscienceLA seeks to enable diversity, amplify science, and accelerate collaboration. BioscienceLA’s mission is to ensure that Los Angeles has a collaborative, well-coalesced ecosystem that encompasses all aspects of the Southern California life sciences cluster – biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical diagnostics, bioinformatics, healthcare IT, medtech, digital health, and more.
BioscienceLA is not designed to duplicate existing activities or organizations but to help harmonize the efforts of all regional stakeholders – academic institutions, research hospitals, investors, startups, mature companies, trade associations, public and quasi-public agencies, and others – to advance Los Angeles’ capacity and pace of innovation.
What are the main objectives of your ecosystem?
Our main objectives are:
1. To build a Regional One-Stop Resource for Life Science Stakeholders
2. To support Regional Collaboration within the SoCal Ecosystem
3. To lead Branding and Communications for the Los Angeles Region
4. To invest in and Accelerate Start-up Activity
5. To promote Industry-specific Workforce Development
Why did you join the ECHAlliance Network of Ecosystems?
We are already collaborating with ECHAlliance as members and now we are happy to also join their network of ecosystems.
I’ve lived in CA for 30 years and LA for 20 years, with much of that time building businesses and inspiring entrepreneurs at the intersection of technology, health, and wellness, so I feel very connected to our mission. Founded in 2018, BioscienceLA is the innovation catalyst for life sciences in the LA metro region, launched with financial support from founding sponsors representing government, industry, and philanthropic sectors.
Its mission is to ensure that Los Angeles has a collaborative, well-coalesced ecosystem that encompasses biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical diagnostics, bioinformatics, healthcare IT, medtech, digital health, and more. BioscienceLA aims to advance the region’s capacity and pace of innovation by harmonizing the efforts of all stakeholders, including academic institutions, research hospitals, investors, startups, mature companies, trade associations, and public and quasi-public agencies.
What that means is that we are here to connect the dots within LA and between LA and the rest of the county and the world – and it is my job to lead that work.
Los Angeles might be the best-kept secret in life sciences. LA is home to world-class academic research organizations, medical centers serving millions of patients, a skilled and diverse workforce, and industry-leading companies such as Amgen, Grifols, Kite/Gilead, Medtronic, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and ThermoFisher.
Los Angeles and California have always boasted access to venture capital, but new early-stage life sciences investors create a strong and growing funding base. Los Angeles County has long led the state in NIH grant funding and recently has overtaken its better-known neighbor San Diego in life sciences jobs and employment.
The Greater Los Angeles Area is home to over 18 million people, representing nearly half the state of California, with a culture that values collaboration and a tremendous diversity. We have a population representative of the entire world.
We have a life sciences ecosystem that spans biotech, medtech, digital health, telemedicine, health IT, synthetic biology, and more. And we have a diversity of complementary industries, from aerospace and agriculture, to apparel and cleantech, to of course media and entertainment, all with ties to our growing bio innovation ecosystem.
LA has led the way in cell and gene therapy innovation for many years, but that is just scratching the surface. With three major research universities, leading research hospitals, independent research institutions, and more, we have a wealth of expertise here. Beyond cell and gene therapy, we have a growing biomanufacturing infrastructure here. We have long-term expertise in imaging and medical devices. We have many of the leaders in clinical trials technologies. At Cedars-Sinai, AR and VR are being used for digital therapeutics. And, of course, AI is supporting much of this work.
LA is also different from the usual suspects of the Bay Area, Boston, and San Diego, because of our culture and adjacent industries. LA is arguably one of the homes of the fitness industry, as well as nutrition, wellness, and consumer-facing technologies. If it falls into the intersection of technology, health, and wellness, it probably is happening here!
Who is missing from your ecosystem in terms of stakeholders?
We are missing founders who want to plug into the ecosystem and funders (venture, philanthropic, corporate) who want to support the ecosystem.
Which ecosystems are you looking to collaborate with?
LA is one of the most global, connected regions. We are here to introduce LA life sciences to the entire world.
