The global coronavirus pandemic represented a time of enlightenment for Oleg Gusyatin. The former MIT engineer observed diagnostic labs overwhelmed by COVID-19 testing and predicted additional labor challenges to come.
To solve these challenges, in 2021, Gusyatin co-founded Tucson-based Macula Vision Systems, a startup that is developing a patent-pending, AI-assisted microscope that fully automates clinical laboratory analysis quickly, accurately and affordably. The groundbreaking technology has the potential to revolutionize traditional optical diagnostics worldwide.
For its novel technology, Macula Vision Systems was selected as a 2023 awardee in the Arizona Commerce Authority’s (ACA) Arizona Innovation Challenge, one of the largest business-plan competitions in the country. Additionally, the Flinn Foundation selected the company for its 2024 Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program in April.
Arizona’s booming bioscience industry
The startup is just one example of Arizona’s surging ecosystem for bioscience and health care companies, an industry that ranks in the top fourth nationally for job growth.
Arizona’s bioscience industry is fueled by a robust network of premier health care and educational institutions as well as innovators in diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, personalized medicine and genomics, medical devices, cancer treatment, telemedicine, neuroscience and more.
“We are in a very exciting time for Arizona’s bioscience ecosystem. Our growth rate continues to outpace the nation in many key areas. We have new and expanded medical schools in our future,” said Tammy McLeod, Ph.D., Flinn Foundation president and CEO. “And bioscience hubs are bringing together researchers, educators, students and entrepreneurs in collaborative spaces.”
On April 22, the Flinn Foundation released new data that underscores McLeod’s optimism: In 2023, Arizona institutions received a record-breaking $365 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. This figure has increased 29% — three times the national average — since 2020. Flinn’s new data also shows that industry job growth and wage growth in Arizona outpaced U.S. averages between 2020-22.
Additional sources estimate that bio and health have a massive impact on job creation and the overall state economy. Arizona State University’s Seidman Research Institute in 2022 reported the industry contributed $71.2 billion in total gross state product and supported nearly 714,000 direct and indirect jobs.
That momentum continued in 2023 — a year marked by the launch of two new medical schools, the expansion of an existing one and a major private sector milestone:
- Arizona State University launched the ASU School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering, which aims to strengthen the medical workforce pipeline and improve health outcomes in Arizona, in downtown Phoenix.
- Northern Arizona University announced plans for its College of Medicine in Flagstaff with the mission to serve communities in rural Arizona and train primary health care professionals in the state.
- University of Arizona, home to the state’s venerable medical school, launched the College of Health Sciences, which is set to offer five new graduate-level degree programs.
- Mayo Clinic began work on Discovery Oasis, a transformative, 120-acre medical and research campus that will feature advanced R&D, medical equipment manufacturing, outpatient treatment facilities, and leverage key industry and university partnerships.
Arizona is also home to global private-sector leaders such as W.L. Gore, Roche Diagnostics, Medtronic, BD (formerly Becton, Dickinson), Bristol Myers Squibb, Dexcom, Stryker and more.
“Many of these companies started out as small Arizona companies. That’s a major success,” AZBio President and CEO Joan Koerber-Walker said. “These things don’t happen overnight. It can take 20 years. But when it does happen, it’s significant.”
There are many success stories, but perhaps one of the most recognizable is Tucson’s Ventana Medical Systems, which was founded by UArizona pathologist Dr. Thomas Grogan. Ventana went on to be acquired by Roche in 2008, and today, “Oro Valley is the worldwide headquarters for tissue diagnostics,” Koerber-Walker said.
She points out that the growth trajectory of the biosciences is a result of Arizona’s collaborative DNA in which all stakeholders aligned more than 20 years ago to make it a foundational pillar of the Arizona economy.
The effort dates to the creation of the Flinn Foundation’s Bioscience Roadmap in 2002, the longest-running, statewide bioscience strategic plan in the nation. The roadmap is guided by leaders from the public and private sectors in science, health care, business, academia and policy, and will be updated in 2025, Flinn’s Tammy McLeod said.
For Gusyatin, the support he has received from the ACA has been priceless.
“They gave us very useful, honest feedback in every stage, which forced us to sit down and think about what we were doing and why,” he said of the Arizona Innovation Challenge. “I’m a conservative engineer and not a salesperson, so it really helped.”
Whether it’s the smallest of startups or the biggest bioscience firms in the world, Arizona has created an environment rich in opportunities for discovering new innovations that drive the economy and lead to improved health outcomes for everyone.
Read more about Arizona's top-ranked bioscience and health care industry.