The Flinn Foundation releases a new Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap to guide industry discovery, innovation, and economic growth for the next five years. The new plan builds on Arizona’s talent base, world-class research, and entrepreneurial spirit to improve the economy as well as Arizonans’ health and quality of life. Developed by SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif., the Roadmap launches at stakeholder events statewide and online the week of Sept. 8, 2025.
PHOENIX — A new blueprint for Arizona’s emerging bioscience ecosystem lays out a plan for the state to capitalize on more than two decades of momentum and become a nationally recognized leader in the space.
The next iteration of Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap, unveiled the week of Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, builds on Arizona’s skilled talent base, world-class research, and entrepreneurial spirit to improve the economy as well as Arizonans’ health and quality of life.
The report analyzes Arizona’s strengths and challenges, acknowledging the uncertainty around federal funding for bioscience research and how that may impact the state.
More than 140,000 people are employed in bioscience companies and hospitals in Arizona. On average, their salaries are 30% higher than private-sector salaries statewide. Crossover opportunities with semiconductor manufacturing and other tech-heavy industries provide a key opportunity for growth in the next five years, the Roadmap concludes.
Medical device manufacturing, neuroscience, oncology, and precision medicine are among the areas of particular excellence and promise in Arizona.
“With the right vision, strategies, determination, and courage — and with its rapidly growing resources, existing and potential strengths, and remarkable collaborative spirit — Arizona has a chance to make transformational contributions to bioscientific research and clinical care, with a profound impact on people here in Arizona and around the world,” said Dr. Eric Reiman, chair of the Flinn Foundation board of directors. “The Flinn Foundation is excited to help in that endeavor.”
The Roadmap is the longest-running statewide bioscience strategic plan in the nation. It was launched by the Flinn Foundation in 2002. Since then, the Foundation has tracked and publicly reported performance metrics from six subsectors:
- Agricultural feedstock and industrial
- Bioscience-related
- Medical devices and
- Research, testing, and medical
An April 2025 report showed Arizona’s growth rate continues to outpace the nation in several categories, including bioscience jobs, National Institutes of Health funding, and university research and development, and included several record highs for the state.
The new Roadmap, developed by SRI International in collaboration with Arizona leaders and commissioned by the Flinn Foundation, establishes five goals:
- Amplify the collaborative gene: Arizona’s collaborative culture should be leveraged. Unlike entrenched regions, Arizona organizations see how individual successes help the ecosystem. Collaboration can also accelerate innovation across technology sectors.
- Accelerate research into impact: Getting new healthcare products to patients quickly is vital. Arizona will increase the scale, speed, and success of commercialization of discoveries that address critical needs.
- Elevate Arizona’s startup ecosystem: A vibrant startup community attracts investors and global-scale bioscience firms. The state will nurture and empower entrepreneurs and startups, providing resources and support to launch, scale, and retain bio ventures.
- Strengthen talent and career pathways: Arizona will attract, develop, and retain top professionals and skilled A large, skilled and sustained talent pool is necessary to help home-grown startups thrive and attract out-of-state companies to Arizona.
- Tell Arizona’s bioscience story: Arizona will be recognized nationally for its contributions to health outcomes and economic growth and a competitive policy environment.
The goals emerged from more than a year of research, interviews, and focus groups statewide.
“The Roadmap was shaped by the people of Arizona and belongs to the people of Arizona,” said Tammy McLeod, Ph.D., Flinn Foundation president and CEO. “This plan is more than just a well- researched document; it serves as a living guide and inspiration for our leading researchers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and educators as well as the students who can see a future for themselves in the biosciences here in Arizona.”
Christiana McFarland is the director of SRI’s Center for Innovation Strategy and Policy, which produced the report.
“Executing this Roadmap will require focus and collaboration among key partners. Doing so will strengthen Arizona’s economy, improve health outcomes, and cement the state’s place as a vital contributor to bioscience in the United States and beyond,” McFarland said.
Read the full Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap report and executive summary: flinn.org/bioroadmap.
Register for the Sept. 11 online event: eventbrite.com/e/statewide-launch-arizonas- bioscience-roadmap-tickets-1553260928249
See the latest Progress Report released in April 2025: flinn.org/progress.
About the Flinn Foundation
The Flinn Foundation is a privately endowed, philanthropic grantmaking organization established in 1965 by Dr. Robert S. and Irene P. Flinn to improve the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations. Based in Phoenix, the Foundation supports the advancement of the biosciences in Arizona as well as the merit-based Flinn Scholarship, arts and culture, and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership. The Foundation’s focus on health care and medical research stems from the career of Robert Flinn, a cardiologist who practiced in Phoenix and provided leadership across Arizona’s medical community.
About SRI International
SRI International is an independent nonprofit research institute with a rich history of supporting government and industry. For almost 80 years, SRI has collaborated across technical and scientific disciplines to discover and develop products and technologies and bring innovations and ideas to the marketplace. For this project, SRI mobilized the Center for Innovation Strategy and Policy, which works with organizations, regions, and countries to accelerate the long-term economic and social impact of investments in science, technology, and a skilled workforce.
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Media Contact:
Stacy Sullivan
(602) 320-1762
ssullivan@flinn.org