Texas Medical Center Opens TMCx

HOUSTON, Oct. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Medical Center (TMC) today announced the opening of  its accelerator program, TMCx, one of the core components of the Texas Medical Center's Innovation Institute and the first step in the Texas Medical Center's long-term plans to become one of the world's premiere life science commercialization clusters. TMCx, housed in a 100,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, is designed to catapult the development of early-stage companies.

"As part of a strategic planning process, leadership from across the TMC identified innovation and commercialization as the top priority across the medical center.  With over $3.7 billion in research grant funding in the last five years, translating research to commercialization is the single greatest opportunity for the Texas Medical Center," said Robert C. Robbins, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Texas Medical Center.

TMCx companies have access to the largest collection of top physicians, scientists and business expertise on one campus, which serves over 7.2 million patients annually. In addition, TMCx companies will participate in an accelerator without the financial burden or requirement to accept dilutive funding.

"The Texas Medical Center accelerator (TMCx) will focus on the critical components, a thoughtfully vetted business model, securing intellectual property, advancing technologies through validation and building management teams," said William F. McKeon, Chief Operating Officer, Texas Medical Center. "Quite simply, we want the highest caliber of talent and technologies that impact health."

TMCx will provide life science and digital health entrepreneurs the essential resources for growth including office and meeting space, training curriculum, a core group of business and legal experts and a network of advisors and potential investors.

The opening of TMCx marks the first of many programs and offerings from the Innovation Institute. In addition to TMCx, the Innovation Institute will house a full spectrum of offerings including rich curriculum for entrepreneurship, a network of advisors and mentors, and access to strategic and venture investors.

"Many of the components incorporated in the Innovation Institute exist as stand-alone entities in other locations around the country and the world, but in its totality, the Institute will be more extensive than anything that currently exists in life sciences," said Robbins.

TMCx is now welcoming applicants to apply online for immediate consideration. The first accelerator class is slated to begin in January. For more information, visit www.tmc-x.org.  

About Texas Medical Center
The largest medical complex in the world, the Texas Medical Center is internationally recognized and home to many of the nation's best hospitals, physicians, educational institutions, researchers, and the largest concentration of life-sciences experts. For the first time in its history, the Texas Medical Center has aligned the multi-institutional expertise to formulate five institutions dedicated to: Health Policy, Clinical Trials, Regenerative Medicine, Genomics, and Life Science Innovation. Together, these institutions will advance the Texas Medical Center as the global leader in human health and life sciences.

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SOURCE Texas Medical Center