BioScience

The Richmond Region’s BioScience community provides growth opportunities in the bioscience, life sciences and medical device service industries.

The Virginia Biotechnology Research Park is a 34-acre site located in downtown Richmond adjacent to the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. The Park is home to a unique mix of more than 60 companies, laboratories and research centers with 2,400 workers in 1.2 million square feet of space.

The Richmond Region’s BioSciences industry also includes Pfizer (R&D and production of over-the-counter drugs), Wako Chemicals (clinical diagnostic reagents), Commonwealth Biotechnologies (contract R&D) and PPD (drug development services and support).

In 1962, MCV Hospitals opened the first Clinical Transplant Center (CTC), which remains the oldest unit of its kind in the United States.

In 1969, MCV Hospitals collaborated with seven other medical centers to establish the Southeastern Organ Procurement Foundation, which became the nation’s first computerized donor-recipient-matching system for kidney transplants.

The South’s oldest medical college building is the Egyptian Building of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine, built in 1845.

In April 2006 VCU’s Pauley Heart Center performed the first artificial heart implant on the East Coast.

In 1611, America’s first hospital, a “guest house for sick people,” was built at Henricus, the Richmond area’s first major English settlement.

In 1989, Virginia’s Department of Forensic Science was the first state laboratory to offer DNA analyses to law enforcement agencies and the first to create a DNA databank of previously convicted sex offenders.

Representative Companies

Richmond Firsts

Questions about the Richmond Region?

BioScience

Greater Richmond's BioScience Community

New Chesterfield company sees enormous potential in shrimp shells

averhealth to expand headquarters, add 50 jobs in Henrico

Business Facilities: Richmond Region fourth for economic potential

Henrico maker of food ingredients introduces chickpea protein solution as dairy substitute

Representative Companies

Richmond Firsts

Questions about the Richmond Region?