For years and behind the scenes, a $13.4 billion technology industry has grown alongside the theme parks, palm trees and golf courses of Central Florida. A fast-emerging life science and biotechnology sector has sprung from a renowned regional healthcare system, comprising some of the top hospitals in the country, and has been further enhanced by research facilities, business incubators, research parks and educational programs. Metro Orlando has also become a hub for specialty pharmaceutical compounding and distribution.

Picking up the pace, the life science sector gained great attention when the University of Central Florida – ranked as the 6th largest university in the nation – gained approval to build a medical school, this coming on the heels of announcing its eventual Burnett College of Biomedical Science.

As major research institutions and hospital systems looked to Orlando as their possible home it became clear to the business community that the life science and biotechnology sector had gained tremendous momentum. The call for a unified group to accelerate life science in Central Florida coincided with the August 23, 2006 announcement that The Burnham Institute for Medical Research chose Orlando as its east coast expansion site.

In order to capture this sudden vibrancy, continue the momentum, and harness our efforts under one umbrella, the community rallied together in order to establish Central Florida’s life science cluster.

bioOrlando gives real form - with structure and processes - to this collaborative spirit.