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Over the past decade, Utah's software and technology sectors have drawn significant attention, with the rise of Silicon Slopes and the success of local software companies reshaping the state's economic landscape. A prime example is Ryan Smith's purchase of the Utah Jazz, which came just 17 months after he sold Qualtrics, the customer experience firm he co-founded in 2002, to SAP for $8 billion. Smith Entertainment Group has since brought an NHL team to Utah and is preparing to break ground on a multi-billion dollar downtown Salt Lake City redevelopment project supported by taxpayers.
Yet, amidst these high-profile developments, Utah's life sciences industry has remained largely under the radar. After all, Utah is the state that introduced the world's first artificial heart. Despite a diversified economy that has performed well across the board, the biotech and life sciences sector has emerged as a powerhouse, leading all other industries in consistent job growth, high wages, and an expanding share of the state's GDP.
The sector has evolved beyond its traditional focus on medical devices. Utah scientists have played pivotal roles in developing or advancing life-changing medical innovations such as the artificial heart, artificial kidneys, prosthetic limbs, and hearing aids. Today, the state's life science and health innovation ecosystem is one of the most dynamic in the nation, encompassing therapeutics, diagnostics, digital health, and other specialties.
Andy Robertson, executive director of the biotech advocacy group BioHive Utah, believes the sector has matured to the point where it no longer needs to prove it is emerging. The challenge now, he says, is ensuring that people within Utah, across the country, and around the world recognize what is already happening. 'Utah isn't arriving,' Robertson said in an interview with the Deseret News. 'It's arrived.'
That message was central to last week's BioHive Premieres conference, which highlighted a Utah business sector that has expanded from medical devices into therapeutics, diagnostics, digital health, and beyond. Robertson noted that the Salt Lake City gathering provided an opportunity to showcase this diversity, connect companies with potential partners and collaborators, and help Utah's workforce see the possibilities within the state. 'We want participants to leave with the feeling that now I know who I am calling tomorrow,' Robertson said before the event.
A Powerful Economic Engine
A 2023 report from the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute identified over 1,600 life sciences companies that directly and indirectly account for more than 180,000 jobs across Utah. Average earnings in the sector were about 48% higher than all other industries, at $96,000 per year compared to $65,000. In 2022, the sector contributed $21.6 billion to the state's GDP.
The report found that job growth in the sector has been a standout for Utah's economy, averaging 5.1% annually from 2012 to 2022, well above the 3.4% average for other industries. At the time of the report, Utah ranked third in the nation for life sciences' share of the overall workforce, trailing only Massachusetts and New Jersey.
The Emerging Realm of Brain-Computer Interfacing
Blackrock Neurotech, a participant in the recent BioHive conference, has been a key player in Utah's health innovation industry since its founding in 2008, advancing possibilities for a device called the Utah Array. Unveiled in 1998, the Utah Array is the product of research by University of Utah biomedical engineering professor Richard Norman. The tiny 4-millimeter-by-4-millimeter device is covered in silicon needles that record or stimulate electrical activity in the brain. It is the primary component that enables brain-computer interface applications.
This implantable technology connects the human brain directly to external digital devices, computers, and prosthetics through thought. According to the company, BCI applications are showing positive results in restoring function for patients with neurological diseases like ALS or Alzheimer's, dysfunction from epilepsy or brain trauma, and limitations from paralysis disorders. Blackrock has been called the silent backbone of the brain-computer interface field, with its Utah Array electrodes serving as the hardware in many important BCI studies over the past decade.
Janelle Gordon, Blackrock's vice president of people, notes that while the work is highly technical, the real satisfaction comes from seeing the impact on people's lives. 'You see someone use what we built to control a computer on their own, talk to their family, or do something they never thought they would be able to do again, and all of it becomes very human,' Gordon told the Deseret News via email. 'Those moments are grounding. The achievement belongs first to our pioneers using the technology and the research teams working alongside them. Study participants and their families give an extraordinary amount of time and trust to this research. We're fortunate to play a part in making those moments possible.'
Gordon noted that Blackrock technology has been implanted in dozens of users and shared how it changed the life of one patient, Casey Harrel. 'He was diagnosed with ALS and quickly lost the ability to speak,' Gordon said. 'Using a system built with Blackrock Neurotech's technology, researchers at UC Davis translate his attempted speech into language, spoken in his own voice. He has now used that system at home almost every day for nearly two years, more than 3,800 hours in total, to communicate with the people in his life. That's what this work is for.'
Standing Guard on Biothreats and Syndromic Disease
Like Blackrock, BioFire Defense, a subsidiary of French diagnostics giant bioMérieux, can trace its roots to innovations born in University of Utah laboratories. BioFire Defense CEO John Harris sees his company's work in biothreat detection and pandemic preparedness as a Utah innovation story with global implications, thanks to technology licensed from the university that grew into tools for identifying dangerous pathogens and helping clinicians act quickly.
Harris traced BioFire Defense's lineage back to Idaho Technology, a company that leveraged PCR testing techniques first invented by Nobel laureate Kary Mullis but notably advanced by University of Utah professor Carl Wittmer. Idaho Technology, founded in Idaho but relocated to Salt Lake City shortly after its launch, evolved into BioFire Diagnostics, which bioMérieux acquired in 2014.
Today, BioFire Defense works closely with federal agencies, including the U.S. military and the National Institutes of Health, to develop tests for infectious diseases and emerging threats. Its relationship with bioMérieux gives that specialized mission access to broader manufacturing capabilities and a global network of installed instruments—advantages Harris says proved important during the COVID-19 response. BioFire had one of the fastest responses in the world in developing a PCR test to detect the virus.
At the center of the technology is the ability to test a single sample for multiple pathogens, helping clinicians distinguish among diseases with similar symptoms. Rather than waiting days for some lab results, Harris said, the company's systems can provide actionable information within an hour. 'We don't diagnose, we provide the tools and actionable intelligence,' Harris said. He added that distinction reflects the company's role: equipping medical professionals with information to guide treatment while maintaining the capacity to respond to outbreaks.
While bioMérieux, founded in 1963 and headquartered in Marcy-l'Étoile, France, just west of Lyon, could have absorbed BioFire and moved it anywhere, Harris notes the company recognized the value of keeping the expertise behind the technology in Utah. It has since made Salt Lake City its North American headquarters. 'They valued so much the technology and brainpower that existed here in Utah that they invested in Utah,' Harris said.
Growing the Talent Pipeline
BioHive's Robertson said that Utah-centric investments like bioMérieux's continue to fuel the state's biotech and life sciences growth but also underscored the importance of ongoing workforce development efforts. The Gardner report found that STEM programs at Utah institutions of higher learning have grown in terms of their share of graduates. In 2000, 13.1% of degree completions in the Utah System of Higher Education were in STEM programs. That share jumped to 15.3% in 2004 before declining gradually for eight years. Since 2012, the STEM share of degrees awarded by Utah colleges and universities has consistently risen, again surpassing 15% and reaching a high of 18.9% in 2021.
Robertson said BioHive is engaged in efforts to bolster this growth in STEM studies through its own student chapters, university connections, and work with K-12 STEM partners—pathways designed to introduce young Utahns to life sciences careers before they enter the job market. His message is that those careers can grow alongside the state's companies, with opportunities spanning startups, midsize businesses, and major employers. 'You can have an entire life sciences career here in Utah,' Robertson said.
Originally reported by deseret.