Watson Wire: When Things Work

I love it when a plan works. I love it even more when it works in ways I couldn’t see or didn’t even know were possible.

Today, we had a moment in Austin. A moment where there’s a clear example of how a plan, a desire, a hope worked. We made a big economic development announcement about a project that is sprouting from the seeds we planted over a decade ago.

In 2011, as part of my “10 Goals in 10 Years,” we laid out plans to grow our own life sciences industry in Austin by creating an environment – an ecosystem – that nurtures innovation and innovative thinkers.

It’s that ecosystem that drew BillionToOne (BTO), a precision diagnostics company, to expand to Austin with a new state-of-the-art office and lab facility. The company has developed a prenatal test that is based on a simple blood draw and is less invasive, less risky and less expensive than amniocentesis, which uses a needle to remove amniotic fluid from the uterus. BTO has also created leading technology in advanced stage oncology diagnostics.

We all knew there would be some great things grow from the 10 Goals and the coming ecosystem. We planned on it. But that ecosystem brings some real creativity and makes dreams come true, and I admit some things have sprung up that I couldn’t have imagined.

At full build-out, the company is expected to produce more than 1,000 jobs that range from logistics specialists to technicians to post-doctoral researchers. That’s 1,000 new jobs created in Austin without tax incentives or any public giveaways.

The company is coming to Austin, in part, because we as a community came together to invest in the fundamental building blocks needed to support the life sciences industry, including a medical school at our little Tier 1 research university.

UT’s Dell Medical School isn’t involved with this particular project, but it’s a cornerstone of the larger life sciences ecosystem that attracts talented students and researchers to Austin. They, in turn, go on to work at these innovative companies and some even start their own.

Today, the Austin region ranks among the top emerging markets for life sciences, and the region is now home to more than 300 life sciences companies, employing over 21,000 employees. By the way, back when we were talking about 10 Goals in 10 Years, some said Austin was too late to the game of life sciences. Well, Austin continues to prove it’s different and capable of doing things others can’t.

We’re also a player in the national effort to tackle health challenges, participating in a $2.5 billion federal initiative called the ARPA-H innovation network that is designed to drive breakthroughs in healthcare. In addition, the MD Anderson Cancer Center at UT will be a $2.5 billion medical hub to provide top-tier cancer care while also enhancing UT Austin’s research capabilities.

“The decision to expand to Austin was strategic,” Oguzhan Atay, CEO of BillionToOne said. “We are proud of our company’s impactful innovations and the culture we have built, and Austin’s dynamic culture is a perfect fit with a growing life science ecosystem.”

This is what they call proof of concept. That’s what we call making things work.