Photo Credit: Forest Devices

Life Sciences, Health & Biomedical Companies in Pittsburgh

Life sciences are part of the lifeblood of Pittsburgh. In a world where health and safety are paramount, science, health and biomedical companies in Pittsburgh are at the forefront of the region’s advancements in biotech, therapeutics, pharma, clinical research and medical devices.  

The region is attractive to top talent and R&D investment dollars, and, of course, regulatory standards make it one of the healthiest and safest places in the U.S. Read on to learn more about our science and health ecosystem, investments, companies and more. 

CONTACT US

Patty Horvatich

Vice President, Business Investment

Phone: 412-392-4555 x4543 | m: 412-491-2489

“We find Pittsburgh to be a great combination of talent, a biotech community and a quality of life that allows Krystal Biotech to attract really smart people who want to work on a great cause.”

krish krishnan, krystal biotech ceo making annoucement
– Krish Krishnan
Krystal BioTech CEO

THe Ecosystem

Academic Anchors

CMU Heinz College campus in pittsburgh pennsylvania
Photo Credit: CMU Heinz College

88

Universities & post-secondary CTE institutions

165

patents awarded to regional research institutions in 2018

University of Pittsburgh

  • Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine at Pitt in 1953 
  • Pittsburgh is the region’s life sciences anchor and is globally renowned for research in immunization, transplantation and neuroscience 
  • $546.4M NIH grants in 2019 from 1,116 awards 
  • 6th Nationally in NIH funding 
  • 9th Nationally in Life Sciences R&D Expenditures ($863M) 
  • 3,600 certificates and degrees in healthcare and life sciences 

Healthcare excellence

Two major hospital systems call Pittsburgh HQ and top the region’s largest employers list 

anesthesiologist checking patient vital signs during surgery while other doctors work on patient at hospital in pittsburgh
  • University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) 
  • Allegheny Health Network (Highmark Health Insurer) 
  • UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh: Top 10 Best Children’s Hospitals in the Nation 
  • UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside: Top 15 of Nation’s Best Hospitals 

StartUp Culture

Ecosystem

Robust support from accelerators, educational organizations & ecosystem leaders

$3 Billion

in funding to 139 regional tech startups in 2019, a seven-fold increase since 2010

Primary life sciences support organizations include

  • Innovation Works 
  • InnovatePGH 
  • Life Sciences Pennsylvania 
  • Pittsburgh Regional Alliance 
  • LifeX Labs – a startup incubator and accelerator launched in 2017 with recently-expanded wet lab facilities. 

Global Connections

Startup Genome logo

Startup Genome, a global leader in ecosystem research, spotlights the Pittsburgh startup ecosystem as part of its network of 280+ cities. Pittsburgh is named the #23 emerging ecosystem globally, with its robotics, advanced manufacturing, life sciences and cleantech industries highlighted.

Key Investments

Apr 2016 Butler Health System

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516 New Jobs
$5,360,000 Capital Investment

Infrastructure & facilities improvement program for the Butler Health System.

Apr 2016 Butler Health System

Jun 2017 Allegheny Health Network

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175 New Jobs
$200,000,000 Capital Investment

$200 million to improve on cancer care in the Pittsburgh region in a joint venture with Johns Hopkins including a new state-of-the-art facility at Allegheny General Hospital. The academic center alone added roughly 175 new jobs.

Jun 2017 Allegheny Health Network

Aug 2017 UPMC

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$19,000,000 Capital Investment

UPMC opened a new 44,000-square-foot outpatient center in Hampton Township with a variety of services, including primary care, pediatric, women’s health, radiology and lab services, plus an Austin’s Playroom for children.

Aug 2017 UPMC

Oct 2017 Allegheny Health Network

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800 New Jobs
$700,000,000 Capital Investment

$700 million in construction and expansion for the next five years, including a 160-bed hospital in Wexford and four smaller “neighborhood hospitals.”

Oct 2017 Allegheny Health Network

Nov 2017 UPMC

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$2,000,000,000 Capital Investment

Spending $2 billion to develop three new hospitals, the UPMC Heart and Transplant Hospital (620 beds, 1 million square feet) on UPMC Presbyterian’s campus; UPMC Vision and Rehabilitation Hospital (300,000 square feet) will be located at UPMC Mercy; and the UPMC Hillman Cancer Hospital.

Nov 2017 UPMC

Feb 2018 Washington Hospital

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34 New Jobs
$2,000,986 Capital Investment

Infrastructure & Facilities Improvement Program grant helped retain 1,833 retained jobs at Washington Hospital.

Feb 2018 Washington Hospital

Apr 2018 Excela Health

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40 New Jobs

Excela Health hired 40 employees at its call center operation in Hempfield, including 10 with clinical experience to help patients find the appropriate provider.

Apr 2018 Excela Health

Jun 2018 Allegheny Health Network

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$20,000,000 Capital Investment

The cancer center is a $20 million, 34,000-square-foot, two story building that will have radiation oncology and infusion therapy, nutritional counseling and other services for cancer patients and their families.

Jun 2018 Allegheny Health Network

Nov 2018 Allegheny Health Network

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50 New Jobs

Allegheny Health Network located a 55,000-square-foot, new community cancer centers as part of the neighborhood hospital AHN is building in Hempfield Township.

Nov 2018 Allegheny Health Network

Feb 2019 UPMC Jameson

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200 New Jobs

Since Jameson merged with UPMC in May 2016, approximately $50 million has been invested in facility improvements. In 2018, Jameson hired more than 200 employees.

Feb 2019 UPMC Jameson

Feb 2019 Maitri Medicinals LLC

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47 New Jobs
$16,300,000 Capital Investment

Maitri Medicinals LLC, which recently doubled its staff to 35 and added another 25 to 35 by early 2020, is building out two medical marijuana dispensaries, relocating its corporate offices to East Liberty and plans to start growing cannabis in a warehouse in O’Hara Township in the near future.

Feb 2019 Maitri Medicinals LLC

Apr 2019 Pantherx Specialty Pharmacy

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100 New Jobs

Pantherx Specialty Pharmacy’s one of the fastest-growing private companies in the Pittsburgh region, has 200 employees and $1 billion in revenues in 2019, expanded into a 50,000-square-foot facility in Moon to focus on precision medicine and orphan drugs, life-saving medicines that treat rare diseases.

Apr 2019 Pantherx Specialty Pharmacy

May 2019 Lockwood Development Partners

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300 New Jobs
$20,000,000 Capital Investment

Planned veterans wellness center and veterans services office.

May 2019 Lockwood Development Partners

Sep 2019 WVU Medicine

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21 New Jobs
$13,800,000 Capital Investment

New outpatient center, $13.8 million, 24,300-square-foot facility that will providing primary, specialty and urgent care services.

Sep 2019 WVU Medicine

Oct 2019 UPMC

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200 New Jobs

UPMC Southside Hospital shift to a non-medical use as part of its plan to transform the asset into the company’s IT hub.

Oct 2019 UPMC

Oct 2019 Western Pennsylvania Surgery Center

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$12,800,000 Capital Investment

The outpatient facility will be a shoulder-to-hand orthopedic center and medical office totaling 47,432 square feet.

Oct 2019 Western Pennsylvania Surgery Center

Jan 2020 Krystal Biotech Inc.

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73 New Jobs
$75,000,000 to $100,000,000 Capital Investment

Broke ground on a $75 million to $100 million, 100,000-square-foot pharmaceutical manufacturing facility near Pittsburgh International Airport that will double the biotech firm’s employee base 100,000 square feet on International Drive.

Jan 2020 Krystal Biotech Inc.

Company
Presence

150

businesses comprise the life sciences ecosystem, with a concentration in medical device companies and healthcare technology. Biopharmaceutical companies, pharmaceutical companies and other life sciences companies share this space as well.

6,800+

jobs

237

expansions from 2008-18, impacting 22,378 jobs, totaling $4B in capital investment

$80,913

Average wage salary

Notable Investments

krystal biotech researchers using biowelder tc machine in laboratory
Photo Credit: Krystal Biotech
Krystal BioTech

Broke ground in 2020 on a $90M, 100,000-SF manufacturing center in the Pittsburgh International Airport corridor, representing the largest biotech investment in the region to date. 

philips sleep and respiratory care center in pittsburgh's bakery square near carnegie mellon university
Photo Credit: Walnut Capital
Philips Sleep & Respiratory Care

Founded in Pittsburgh as Respironics and acquired by Philips in 2007, now HQ for Philips Sleep & Respiratory Care. A major medical device manufacturing company with over 1,750 employees in the region broke ground in 2018 on a new office facility in Pittsburgh’s Bakery Square, next to Google and Carnegie Mellon University. 

medrad, high-tech medical device company in pittsburgh pensylvania
Photo Credit: Butler County Economic Development Corporation
Medrad

Founded in 1964 by cardiologist M. Stephen Heilman, has grown into a global developer of high-tech medical devices for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, specializing in cardiovascular applications. It was first acquired by Schering for $181 million in 1995 and subsequently bought by Bayer in 2006. 

Coming soon

upmc pittsburgh development, innovate pgh, oakland innovation district
Photo Credit: InnovatePGH
700,000+ Square Feet of Lab Space Planned or under construction

Across three Pittsburgh developments, clustered around the Oakland Innovation District.

scientists in a lab in pittsburgh medical center
Photo Credit: UPMC
UPMC Enterprises

The commercialization arm of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center healthcare provider and insurer will invest over $1 billion by 2024 to develop new drugs, medical diagnostics and other devices. The first investment was a $200 million commitment to open the UPMC Immune Transplant & Therapy Center in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh. 

liftoff pgh, jewish healthcare foundation, doctors fitting a patient for a cast
Liftoff PGH

A major healthcare innovation summit launched by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, will take place in Pittsburgh in December 2020. 

Contact Us

Patty Horvatich
Senior Vice President, Business Investment