When McKesson Group, Kimberly-Clark and Celanese located their Fortune 500 HQs in Irving-Las Colinas, Texas, they were planning for the long term.
It’s a concept that has attracted a plethora of life sciences, biotechnology and animal health companies to cluster in and around the region. With over 38.5 million sq. ft. of office space, over 19 million sq. ft. of Class A space and several shovel-ready sites at hand, officials in Irving-Las Colinas are looking to welcome and cater to new health innovation.
“Human pharmaceuticals and biotechnology leaders McKesson and Abbott Laboratories, and Zoetis, a leading animal health provider, call Irving-Las Colinas home,” says Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Beth Bowman. “But it’s not just large companies — smaller organizations like MEDNA Scientific are thriving in Irving. Our evolving city and its changing skyline are due in part to the investments these and other companies in this sector are making in Irving-Las Colinas.”
Vickie Tu, founder and CEO of biotechnology company MEDNA Scientific, came to Irving in 2018, when very few life sciences companies were operating in the city.
Regardless, MEDNA Scientific had found its home.
“Irving has a convenient location being close to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and located toward the center of the United States,” says Tu. “Additionally, Irving has very reasonable business operation costs compared to cities like San Francisco and Boston.”
According to Tu, MEDNA’s original 180,000-sq.-ft. facility in Irving didn’t receive any local incentives. She says that experienced entrepreneurs will find biotech businesses are growing here, in part to Irving-Las Colinas’ business-friendly environment and great resources.
It’s also the reason the company’s growth is on the uptick. In 2022, MEDNA moved to a new 200,000-sq.-ft. site within Irving, just five minutes from the DFW airport.
“MEDNA moved to a large manufacturing facility last year and we’re very happy with its convenient location, great size and the support received from the city,” says Tu. “I am very positive about MEDNA’s growth potential, as we anticipate more hiring and rapid growth capabilities in 2023 and beyond.”
Additional space at the new facility will support R&D and manufacturing of the company’s information technology and automation systems for the biopharmaceutical industry. The site will contain the company’s warehousing, office space, laboratories and a conference center. MEDNA technologies support all site operations while showcasing its AI and automation products in action, including security robots which the company hopes to integrate into the DFW Airport.
“Our city offers life sciences companies the conditions and infrastructure to succeed, and workers the conditions to thrive,” says Bowman. “We attribute the success of these companies to our talent pool, location, real estate, and business-friendly regulatory and tax environment, a winning combination only Irving-Las Colinas can offer.”
