Texas Medical Center Expands Global Reach with Launch of TMC Netherlands BioBridge

The TMC Netherlands BioBridge marks the fifth strategic international partnership forged by TMC since 2016

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Texas Medical Center (TMC) and Health~Holland, Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (LSH) launched a groundbreaking BioBridge, a strategic alliance advancing and connecting global innovation. The TMC BioBridge program provides a gateway for entrepreneurs, researchers, clinicians, and industry partners to access the US market and the TMC experts, while providing a bridge to the host country for exchanges.

"The TMC Netherlands BioBridge represents an unparalleled opportunity for collaboration and growth," said Ashley McPhail, Chief External Affairs & Administration Officer at Texas Medical Center. "The Netherlands has solidified its position as a global leader in the field of life sciences and health, with a thriving ecosystem of research institutions, innovative companies, and highly skilled professionals. This strategic partnership will bring positive benefits to patients, clinicians, and industry partners on a global scale."

TMC’s BioBridge program provides a focused and strategic pathway for international healthcare companies preparing for US market expansion. This Global Innovators Launch Pad begins through an application process where startup founders apply for an initial 10-week residency at TMC Innovation Factory. Here, entrepreneurs will participate in programming that will include key areas critical to US growth, such as foundational infrastructure, clinical evidence, and funding.

“Since Texas is an important hub for innovation in the MedTech and Digital Health sectors, the collaboration with Texas Medical Center creates opportunities for Dutch companies looking to expand their international reach. Vice versa, it gives companies in Texas access to the vibrant Dutch Life Sciences & Health sector,” said Carmen van Vilsteren, Chair of Top Sector LSH.

The TMC Netherlands BioBridge Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on September 27, 2023, in Rotterdam, Netherlands by TMC President and CEO, William F. McKeon, and Carmen van Vilsteren, Chair Top Sector Life Sciences & Health. This further outlines the goals between the partners. Members from TMC are also participating in the Health~Holland Visitors Programme (HVP) ‘Shaping the Healthcare of the Future.’ The HVP is a yearly recurring event in the Netherlands, aimed at broadening knowledge of Dutch and international Life Sciences and Health stakeholders, including multiple high-level representatives from the private sector, NGOs, knowledge institutions, healthcare providers and different tiers of government.

The TMC Netherlands BioBridge is the fifth international strategic alliance, including those with Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Ireland. Since 2016, TMC's BioBridges have welcomed 88 startup companies specializing in digital health and medical devices across various critical areas such as neurology, oncology, patient engagement, surgery, orthopedics, cardiovascular health, transplantation, intensive care, and ophthalmology. With the introduction of the TMC Netherlands BioBridge, the collaboration and knowledge exchange will further allow for more comprehensive and impactful efforts to address global healthcare challenges.

About Texas Medical Center (TMC): TMC is the world's most comprehensive life science ecosystem at the forefront of advancing life sciences. TMC is on a mission to further accelerate the pace of healing by harnessing our collective expertise in innovation, research, development, production, and patient care within a single, centralized medical ecosystem. With over 70+ million square feet and 120,000+ employees, TMC is leveraging the collective power by pioneering a revolutionary life sciences initiative to house the entire treatment of life cycle from discovery to delivery, within a single, world-class medical complex, on a scale never before seen.

About Texas Medical Center Innovation (TMCi): Texas Medical Center Innovation forms, fosters, recruits, and funds healthcare companies worldwide that are writing the future of healthcare. TMCi performs diligence on the companies seeking to progress toward clinical and business milestones in collaboration with Texas Medical Center member institutions and our global network of advisors and embedded corporate partners. We align these resources through our globally recognized programs: Biodesign, Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics, and Health Tech.

About the Top Sector Life Sciences & Health
Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (Health~Holland) works together with public and private parties to promote the economic opportunities of the societal theme Health & Care of the Dutch cabinet’s Mission-driven Top Sectors and Innovation Policy. The coalition does this on the basis of the five Health & Care missions, formulated by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. The central mission is as follows: By 2040, all Dutch citizens will live at least five years longer in good health, while the health inequalities between the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups will have decreased by 30%. There are four underlying missions that contribute to this central mission through changes to lifestyle and living environment, offering more care in the right place and better perspectives for people with chronic diseases, lifelong disabilities and dementia. With this approach, the Netherlands seeks to effectively tackle major societal challenges. Industry can optimally respond to the economic opportunities that these challenges bring.