Midwest Life Sciences Overview
The Midwest hosts large pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott and Baxter in Chicago, and
Eli Lilly in Indiana. These large pharma companies have become the significant buyers of basic
research from biotech nationwide and internationally. They are increasingly looking to smaller
biotech companies as their pipeline to new and innovative products.
It also boasts a strong medical devices industry. Ten of the top 20 companies have their
headquarters in the Midwest with another four companies with significant operations in the
Midwest. Minneapolis area is the leader in numbers of patent inventors. Minneapolis hosts
Medtronic, Inc and Guidant, which was acquired by Boston Scientific.; Milwaukee hosts GE
Medical Systems (high-end imaging); the area around Warsaw, Indiana hosts the prosthesis
industry; and the Chicago area is home to Hospira and Takeda.
Some of the nation’s largest distributors of medical equipment and drugs are situated in the
region. These include number two distributor in the US, Cardinal Health, largest pharmacy
benefits management, Express Scripts, and largest institutional pharmacy services provider
Omnicare. These companies take advantage of the central location and advanced logistics
infrastructure to ship across the nation.
Five of the nation’s top hospitals are located in the Midwest
• Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota)
• Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio)
• Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri)
• University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
• University of Chicago Medical Centers (Chicago, Illinois)
The Midwest has long been a major player in the nation's strong Research and Development
infrastructure. Many Midwest institutions number among the nations' leaders in R&D spending as
well as in the metrics of technology transfer. Overall academic R&D funding in Midwest states
tends to be above the U.S. average. Collectively, universities within the Midwest region
accounted for $9.9 billion or 19% of total US institutional R&D expenditures in FY2007. NIH
Research accounted for $4.5 billion or 21%. The metro areas of Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit
are considered some of the top research centers in the nation.
Midwest health care startups received more than $1 billion in investments for 165 companies
through 2008; up slightly from 2007’s record breaking $1 billion total. Ohio and Minnesota once
again led all Midwestern states in health care investment, with Cleveland and Minneapolis again
leading all regions. Still venture capital is scarcer in this area than on either coast. Additionally,
the venture capital dollars available in Midwest must cover a greater region than the concentrated
capital on the coasts. Midwest investors lack proximity, making interaction for networking and
deal syndication less frequent and less efficient. In addition, the average size fund in Midwest is
relatively small ($25 - $50 million) compared to the coastal funds of $100+ million.
Largest Life Science Companies in the Midwest (sales)
Cardinal Health $99.512 Bil
Pharmaceuticals Distribution
& Wholesale
Abbot $29.528 Bil
Pharmaceuticals
Manufacturer
Medtronic $14.599 Bil
Medical Devices Manufacturer
Baxter $12.348 Bil
Biopharmaceuticals
& Biotherapeutics
Manufacturer
St. Jude Medical
$4.363 Bil
Medical Devices
Manufacturer
Zimmer $4.121 Bil
Medical Devices Manufacturer
3M Healthcare
$3.790 Bil
Dental, Medical
supplies, Health IT
Omnicare $6.311 Bil
Pharmaceuticals
Distribution &
Wholesale
Hospira $3.630 Bil
Pharmaceuticals
Manufacturer
Eli Lilly $20.378 Bil
Pharmaceuticals
Manufacturer
Stryker $6.718Bil
Medical Devices and
Supplies Manufacturer
Patterson $3.094 Bil
Dental Equipment
Distribution
Illinois
Illinois is home to many of the world's leaders with total sales around $47.5 bil. These companies
include Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International, TAP Pharmaceuticals, Hospira, Akzo Nobel,
Medline Industries, Dade Behring, Abraxis BioScience, etc. Chicago’s Drug & Pharmaceutical
industry employment concentration is 90% higher than the national average. It represents over
6.1% of total U.S. Drug & Pharma employment
Indiana
Indiana was identified as one of the nation's top four life sciences leaders as defined by number
and concentration of life sciences-related jobs. The major sectors are health care delivery,
pharma, and medical devices, they generate $14 billion a year for Indiana.
The state is a home to such industry giants as Eli Lilly, Biomet, Cook Group, Inc. and Zimmer,
WellPoint. Indiana boasts the second largest medical school in the U.S. (Indiana University
School of Medicine) and hosts the highly successful incubator, Indiana University's Emerging
Technologies Center.
Iowa
More than 1,100 companies are engaged in Iowa’s biosciences industry, ranging from large
international companies, to small start-ups. According to the Battelle Memorial Institute's
Technology Partnership Practice Report, Iowa's strengths are in animal and plant sciences,
bioeconomy, biomedical imaging, drug discovery, development piloting and production,
advanced food products, biosecurity/biodefense, post-genomic medicine, and animal systems.
Thanks to legislation encouraging equity investments, the establishment of several venture
capital community funds and a growing network of local investors, capital is readily available
for companies in the biosciences.
Kansas
More than 20,000 jobs in Kansas are associated with the state’s bioscience companies and
research universities. Kansas is home to more than 160 bioscience companies employing
11,000 to 13,000 people
Kentucky
Kentucky is home to hundreds of bioscience and biotechnology-related companies, working in
areas from nutrigenomics and pharmaceuticals to natural products and medical devices.
Kentucky has established Commonwealth Seed Capital, LLC, to invest state funds in support
of early-stage technology companies in Kentucky. The state also maintains a series of funds
that promote and provide capital for early-stage technology commercialization. The Kentucky
Enterprise Fund has invested over $7.7 million in 151 companies throughout the state.
Michigan
Michigan is home to such companies as Stryker, Amway, Perrigo, Autocam, etc.With over $2
billion invested in R&D each year and nearly 100 new companies since 2000, Michigan leads the
nation as one of the fastest growing life sciences states. Michigan's life sciences industry focuses
on the following areas: Pharmaceuticals, Medical devices, Instrumentation, Diagnostics,
Biotechnology research and ancillary services
Minnesota
Minnesota ranked 14th among states in biotech growth leadership. There are 585 FDA approved
medical device establishments currently in Minnesota. The state’s companies are particularly
strong in medical devices. Some of the US’s leading companies operate in the state including,
Medtronic, 3M, Boston Scientific Scimed, St. Jude Medical, Patterson Companies, American
Medical Systems, the Mayo Clinic, Amplifon USA, MGI Pharma, and others. Between 2002 and
2006, Minnesota registered 2,333 patents in medical decides, ranking second in the nation.
Missouri
This is a growing industry in the state with focus on chemical and medical device manufacturing.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing is significant in Missouri with companies such as Pfizer, K-V
pharmaceuticals and Aventis operating facilities in the sate. In the medical equipment the focus is
on microbial detection, molecular diagnostics, immunoassay, clinical software, pathogen
detection, refractive laser, surgery devices, and weighing systems. The companies active in these
sectors are Bausch & Lomb Surgical, and Cardinal Scale.
Nebraska
-$24 million Chemical Engineering complex is largely dedicated to bioprocessing, including a
planned GMP pilot fermentation plant for Phase I/II clinical materials.
-In Lincoln, the George W. Beadle Center for Genetics and Biomaterials Research, is a $32
million, 140,000 sq. ft. facility located on UNL’s main campus. The center also houses the UNL
Center for Biotechnology, the Nebraska Center for Virology, the Redox Biology Center, and the
UNL Plant Science Institute.
Ohio
The state was ranked 4th nationally in the Biotech strength by the Business Facilities Magazine.
There are around 818 bioscience-related entities operating in the state, and from 2004 to 2007, an
average of 55 new bioscience companies began operation in Ohio each year. Ohio’s strength in
the biological sciences has led to a concentration in the fields of cancer and cardiovascular
research and treatment, genomics, genetics, and neurology. As mentioned above Ohio life
science’s startup lead the Midwest in attracting venture capital investments.
Wisconsin
Bioscience in Wisconsin contributes over $6.9 billion to the state's economy. Wisconsin
bioscience industry, comprised of 338 companies throughout the state, had revenues of $6.4
billion in 2005. Wisconsin's companies are active in medical imaging, diagnostics and medical
devices - and food and agricultural biosciences. Wisconsin's bioscience company revenue has
seen an annualized growth rate of 15 percent since 2003.Wisconsin bioscience industry is young
and growing. Half of the companies in the sector are less than 10 years old. Two-thirds are less
than 15 years old and employ 22,372 people in the state. Most of the bioscience companies in
Wisconsin developed from scientific discoveries made in Wisconsin's academic research
laboratories.