Where Research and Innovation Collide 

From medical equipment manufacturing to pharmaceutical research, health care innovations to nutraceutical breakthroughs, businesses related to life sciences are finding a home in the Bradenton Area of Florida’s West Coast. The life sciences industry includes medical equipment manufacturing, healthcare innovations, pharmaceutical research and everything in between. A highly skilled STEM workforce carry out clinical trials, research and development and the many operations that make up the life science sector in the Bradenton Area.

A climate and lifestyle that attracts top talent, and a lower cost of doing business compared to traditional life sciences hubs in the United States, creates an attractive combination for enterprises focused on leading-edge life sciences research, technologies and product development. The EDC and its partners strive to further develop and enhance an ecosystem that supports the life sciences sector.

Notable highlights include the following:

Brain Health Initiative at Lakewood Ranch
Lakewood Ranch (LWR), the Academy for Brain Health and Performance, and Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital (Mass General), have partnered to design a one-of-a-kind, large-scale effort to address brain health called the Brain Health Initiative at Lakewood Ranch. The initiative proposes the most extensive, long-term brain health study ever conducted, and the Brain Health Innovation Lab, a first-of-its-kind hub for breakthrough science in brain health innovation. The initiative seeks to develop interventions and validate and test the feasibility of innovations to enhance brain health, as well as optimize performance across the lifespan. Multi-generational, community-based research will follow Lakewood Ranch residents for decades to identify factors associated with brain health and performance across the lifespan. The research will be used by a global team of researchers, neuro-technologists, engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors to discern, develop, and implement interventions aimed at optimizing brain health and performance. This collaboration will be based in the planned Brain Health Innovation Lab at CORE at Lakewood Ranch. The outcomes developed by the initiative are intended to be replicated and scaled globally.

CORE at Lakewood Ranch: An Urban Campus for Life
A 300-acre life sciences research and development campus is in the making in the Bradenton Area’s Lakewood Ranch community. Conveniently situated near Interstate-75, CORE (Collaboration Opportunities for Research and Exploration) will provide a centralized home for businesses and institutions related to life sciences. To note, The Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute broke ground in July 2018 on a $16 million state-of-the art cancer center in CORE at Lakewood Ranch.

Roskamp Institute: Nucleus for a Growing Biotech Sector
Founded in the Bradenton Area, the Roskamp Institute biotech laboratory is a leader in the global effort to better understand and ultimately cure debilitating diseases of the mind. In addition to cutting-edge research on pharmaceutical and nutraceutical treatments, Roskamp is spinning off for-profit entities to bring products to market for the world’s aging population and for those suffering from neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. Roskamp and others in the Bradenton area provide FDA-approved laboratory and product development services and facilities, in addition to the ability to conduct clinical trials.