Defining Bioscience
In 2025, the Flinn Foundation and SRI International developed and included in Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap this definition of bioscience—one of the first formal definitions of the term in a statewide economic-development plan:
Bioscience focuses on the research, development, and commercialization of therapies and products to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease, improve health outcomes, enhance crops, and generate biological solutions for environmental and industrial challenges.
Bioscience employs scientific methods to understand normal and abnormal biological processes and answer profound questions about what life is, how it works, and how it changes. Bioscience plays a central role in addressing many global challenges and improving quality of life for future generations.
6 subsectors in Arizona’s bioscience industry
The Roadmap, commissioned by the Flinn Foundation in 2002, with updates in 2014 and 2025, identifies six subsectors of the bioscience sector in Arizona that are improving outcomes for Arizonans and beyond:
Agriculture Feedstock and Industrial Biosciences
Firms engaged in agricultural research and development, processing, organic chemical manufacturing, and fertilizer manufacturing. The subsector includes industry activity in the production of ethanol and other biofuels.
Bioscience-Related Distribution
Firms that coordinate the delivery of bioscience-related products spanning pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and agricultural biotech. Distribution in bioscience is unique in its deployment of specialized technologies, including cold storage, highly regulated monitoring and tracking, and automated drug distribution systems.
Medical Devices and Equipment
Firms that develop and manufacture surgical and medical instruments and supplies; laboratory equipment; electromedical apparatus, including MRI and ultrasound equipment; and dental equipment and supplies.
Pharmaceuticals
Firms that develop and produce biological and medicinal products and manufacture pharmaceuticals and diagnostic substances.
Research, Testing, and Medical Laboratories
Firms engaged in research and development in biotechnology and other life sciences, life-science testing laboratories, and medical laboratories. This subsector includes contract and clinical R&D organizations.
Hospitals
Hospitals are vital for delivery of clinical care as well as for discovery, with many collaborations between health systems, universities, and private companies on research, experiential learning opportunities, and commercialization. Rural hospitals and clinics, in particular, are often early adopters of cost-effective healthcare technologies.
The scope of Arizona’s bioscience sector described above aligns with the definition used by Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap since its 2002 launch. Arizona uses the subsector definitions developed by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the industry’s national trade association—with one exception: BIO does not include hospitals in its definition. SRI International and the Flinn Foundation decided to retain Arizona’s hospitals in Arizona’s definition because they help lead the translation of bioscience research to patient populations.
As Arizona strives to become a nationally recognized bioscience leader by 2030, with a dedication to world-class research, a skilled talent base, and dynamic industry growth, the state’s bioscience ecosystem can be at the forefront of answering those profound questions about what life is, how it works, and how it changes.
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