Bioscience Industry in New Mexico Continues to Boom

Nearly 150 bioscience startups have formed here in the last 10 years. And the state is working to attract more.

By Kim Madlom on December 13, 2023

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The bioscience industry in New Mexico is a source for innovation, with companies making new developments in allergy treatments, increasing crop yields and advancing medical device technology. 

With nearly 150 bioscience startups formed here in the last 10 years, bioscience is an industry of opportunity in the state. According to the 2020 Bioscience Economy Report, the country’s bioscience industry is growing faster and more substantially than many other industries in the private sector.

Fertile Ground 

The state is poised to reap the benefits of this nationally growing sector. The New Mexico Bioscience Authority (NMBSA), which was created in 2017 as a public-private partnership, connects collaborators in the industry, including universities, research and development organizations, entrepreneurs, investors, elected officials and the workforce, to grow bioscience throughout the state.

NMBSA recently launched a Community Readiness Program that helps communities throughout the state position themselves to attract bioscience businesses. The current certified-ready communities include Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Clovis. 

“We are working on empowering the entire state to be bioscience productive,” says Stephanie Tofighi, NMBSA executive director. “So, we want that to occur in the urban areas of Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces, and also in the rural communities of Clovis and others.” 

NMBSA developed a list of certification protocols for municipalities and organizations to help attract and grow bioscience investment. Infrastructure – available sewer, water, high-speed internet – is essential to any industry, especially bioscience companies. 

“Bioscience is a much faster-moving industry than many others,” Tofighi says. “Tech companies can work remotely, but bioscience companies need brick and mortar buildings with lab space.” 

The Community Readiness Program addresses this issue by encouraging communities to develop shovel-ready sites, identifying a point person who can lead bioscience companies through the location process and having incentives in place. “Communities like Clovis are excellent choices for bioscience companies,” Tofighi says. 

The Bioscience Authority is working with the city and economic development officials to complete the Community Readiness Certification requirements. 

“We’ve got a lot of very smart people innovating in the state,” Tofighi says. “That brainpower is displayed in the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), one of the world’s largest and most complex scientific research laboratories.” 

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Success Stories 

A fellowship with LANL brought Alex Koglin to New Mexico in 2009. In 2021, Koglin and co-founder Michael Humbert opened their bioscience company Nature’s Toolbox (NTx) in Rio Rancho.

NTx has developed technology that uses non-biological processes to create biological medicines, such as insulin and mRNA vaccines. NTx moved from a business incubator at Santa Fe Community College to Rio Rancho to accommodate its growth. 

Additionally, biologist Cliff Han, who trained as a doctor in China and came to the U.S. in 1996, worked at LANL for 22 years before retiring and founding his own bioscience company, Knoze Jr., to create a product that provides long-term allergy relief. The product, AllerPops, treats what Han believes is the root cause of environmental allergies. He says that by stabilizing levels of “good” oral bacteria, his product helps “switch off” an overworking immune system that makes people sneeze or cough. 

Han launched AllerPops in 2018 and expanded in early 2023 with new products, including a lozenge version, a prebiotic toothpaste, mouthwash tablets and pet allergy supplements. 

Collaborative Efforts in Education

New Mexico’s higher education institutions are also significant assets to bioscience companies operating in the state. The University of New Mexico is a springboard for health-related startups working to commercialize new medical devices, diagnostic tools and therapeutics, while New Mexico State University is doing the same for agricultural-related biotechnology.

Additionally, New Mexico Tech serves as an R&D center and has more than a dozen research divisions that work with private industry, government agencies and other universities to contribute to cutting-edge research. 

“We have a fantastic ecosystem of innovation,” Tofighi says. “We are committed to making New Mexico a bioscience hub,but we don’t want that to mean just one or two areas of the state. We want to work with all of the state’s municipalities to identify sites and build a larger bioscience ecosystem.”