Building A Regional Bioscience Ecosystem

Inaugural Midwest BioDefense Summit Brings Together Talent, Ideas And Opportunity

One of the GFMEDC’s targeted sectors, the bioscience (and medical devices) industry, holds tremendous potential to strengthen and diversify the regional economy.

In March 2023, the GFMEDC partnered with the Bioscience Association of North Dakota, North Dakota Department of Agriculture, and North Dakota Department of Commerce, to host the inaugural Midwest BioDefense Summit.

The two-day summit highlighted the recent growth and potential for the region’s biodefense and bioscience industry and included national thought leaders who discussed best practices and explored partnerships to continue to build this emerging industry. The Summit also showcased innovative research and development at NDSU and partnerships between NDSU and UND leading to the joint Biomedical Engineering Program.

Attendees learned about local biotech entrepreneurs like Checkable Health developing what will be the first FDA approved at-home strep throat test. Other local bioscience companies including Agathos, Lincoln Therapeutics, BRAiN, and Aldevron shared how they are champions for expanding the bioscience ecosystem in our region and demonstrated how their technologies are improving and saving lives.

The inaugural BioDefense welcomed over 140 attendees and 18 bioscience companies from 13 different states.

Turning Talk into Tangible Results

While events like the BioDefense Summit often plant the seeds for projects or connections that evolve into economic development opportunities years later, this summit did yield some immediate tangible results.

As a result of the Summit:

• A first-time visitor to the Fargo-Moorhead area has relocated his health tech startup, Your Performance Lab (YPL), from the United Kingdom to Fargo. YPL has set up an office at the NDSU Tech Incubator and is in the process of hiring interns and talent from area universities.
• Imricor Medical has officially expanded and is selecting a location in the Fargo area for its new engineering, design, and manufacturing facility.
• Corvent Medical, a developer of next generation medical ventilator technology that moved to NDSU research facilities in 2022, is expanding into new production and office space in south Fargo, more than tripling its current footprint. Corvent will add more than 30 high paying biotech jobs as part of the expansion.

Save the date for the next Summit September 17-18, 2024.