HEALTH CARE & BIOTECH
From Go Big in Texas Economic Development Guide 2019
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HEALTH CARE & BIOTECH
by KEITH LORIA

The business of keeping people well is very healthy in Texas.

Health care and biotechnology companies throughout the state are at the forefront of new treatments and state-of-the-art services that are designed to heal people affected by various diseases and ailments.

More than just a business hotbed, Texas is also home to many doctors and professionals who are devoted to making life easier, and better, through innovative methods that are changing how care is approached and patients are treated.

Among those organizations is Medical Innovation Collaborative, a non-profit established in 2018 with the intent to bridge the gap between invention and commerce, lab and market.

“The ultimate goal of the Medical Innovation Collaborative is to foster a new ecosystem for bioscience discovery in North Texas, where there is a dynamic life science community ready to advance and transform the future of healthcare,” says CEO Harold Strong. “Globally competitive startups are forming in and around world-class medical schools and hospitals, biomedical companies, and laboratories for research, development, and testing.”

Helping Alzheimer’s Patients

Alzeca is headquartered in Houston and is developing MRI imaging for detection and potential monitoring of Alzheimer’s Disease. Co-Founder Ananth Annapragada, Ph.D., heads an advanced imaging center at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and serves on the faculty of the Baylor College of Medicine. According to Alzeca, positron emission tomography (PET) is used in Alzheimer’s research and some clinical development work.


“The ultimate goal of the Medical Innovation Collaborative is to foster a new ecosystem for bioscience discovery in North Texas, where there is a dynamic life science community ready to advance and transform the future of healthcare.”
— Harold Strong, CEO, Medical Innovation Collaborative 

“Alzeca is focused on developing targeted imaging agents for the early detection of Alzheimer’s. As such, we do not have a direct role in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, but do play an important and essential role in diagnosing Alzheimer’s 15 to 20 years before any clinical symptoms appear,” says CEO Carlo Medici. “Alzheimer’s disease has been a minefield for recent drug development, marked by a series of clinical trials whose failures suggest that therapeutic interventions will need to be directed earlier in the disease process. How much earlier? Well, before the onset of dementia —in fact, ideally before any symptoms manifest at all.”

Breakthroughs in Neurological Treatment

Clarity Chair is a new product that helps people with neurological symptoms that was developed by Dr. Mary Ann Block, DO, PA of The Block Center, based in Fort Worth.

“It helps with focus, listening, behavior, remembering, sleep, attention, ability to speak and communicate, coordination and more,” Block says.

She notes a study involving a small group of adults with long-term traumatic brain injury who tried Clarity Chair where symptoms were resolved in 62 percent of participants, and improved for 82 percent.

“Clarity Chair works by exposing the participant to five different sensory inputs at one time,” Block says. “Studies now indicate that the more senses used, the faster and better the treatment will work. Advanced multi-sensory stimulation then takes place during treatment sessions to challenge and reset the interaction, laying new sensory pathways and eliminating old unproductive ones. Any obstacles or dysfunction between the brain and sensory systems is then removed which harnesses the brain’s ability to self-correct and heal.”

In Other News

Introducing Caregiver Inc. provides a full range of services for more than 2,500 Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The company’s recent innovations include its use of telepsychiatry, video-based therapy that offers patients easily accessible mental health services in a convenient and affordable way.

STATinMED, a company making news in analytical and consulting health economics outcomes research services in such areas as meta analysis and medical writing, has recently moved its headquarters to Dallas.

Healthcare giant McKesson, which offers solutions to biopharma, moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Las Colinas in April, allowing it to expand on its presence in the Dallas area where its Las Colinas campus is already a key hub for the company.




Texas is drawing companies from across the U.S. with its famously pro-business climate, robust infrastructure and world-class workforce.





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