Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego Gives the Kick-off Address to a Global Audience for BIO2022 Start-Up Stadium

Phoenix under the leadership of Mayor Kate Gallego and the forward-thinking members of the City Council, has embarked on a year’s long mission to make the fifth largest city in the United States a Mecca for Bio, Computing, and Sustainability-Alternative Sciences.

Among the major science projects Mayor Gallego and the Phoenix City Council has supported are:

• The emergence of the Phoenix-Bio Core in downtown Phoenix.
• The Discovery Oasis project in partnership with The Mayo Clinic.
• Efforts at heat mitigation including the creation of an office to oversee that task.
• The bringing in of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation.
• The passage of a Climate Action Plan, a major tree planting initiative, and the push to install electric vehicle charging stations across the city.

The latest example of the Mayor’s and the Phoenix City Council’s zeal to propel Phoenix into a leading science hub is Ms. Gallego giving the kick-off address at the Start-Up Stadium Event for the 2022 Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s (BIO)  International Convention.

At the event, Mayor Gallego saluted the three Phoenix Bioscience start-up businesses competing with 37 others in Start-Up Stadium, a global venture capital opportunity that is a premier program within the BIO 2022 convention.

The three Phoenix Bioscience entities that made their pitch before the judges are:

• BacVax – an organization that analyzes bacterial genomes and proteins structures to identify vaccine targets.
• nVector – a bioscience business that provides next generation gene therapy technology poised to enable revolutionary treatments for central nervous system disease, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS.
• Nixxi Health – its maternal health platform, PopNatal (digital risk assessment), promotes health equity in pregnancy care.

After the judges evaluate all 40 bio-science start up pitches, a winner will be declared in several weeks.

Posting on social media, Mayor Gallego stated:

“Phoenix startups are solving challenges ranging from childhood ear infections to maternal health. Proud to support their growth—creating jobs and improving outcomes in Phoenix.”

 Later, Jeanine L’Ecuyer, Mayor Gallego’s Communications Director, added:

“The Mayor is very proud of Phoenix’s track record of innovation in biosciences. A great example is the Phoenix Bioscience Core downtown, which hosts all three state universities, several of the region’s major health care systems, as well as more than twenty life science companies. It is home to top-tier research, and, as the Mayor often says, “The path to a cure for cancer will run through Phoenix.”

 During her trip to BIO she has been meeting with bioscience businesses that are very interested in establishing a presence here.”