The state is seeding a burgeoning biohealth and medicine sector through significant investment and public-private collaboration.
Wisconsin: The Rising Epicenter of U.S. Biohealth Advances
Wisconsin: The rising epicenter of U.S. biohealth advances
READ MORE
How Wisconsin Is Feeding the Future with Innovation in Food and Beverage
READ MORE
Uncovering the Competitive Edge Behind Wisconsin’s Manufacturing
READ MORE
EXPLORE MORE
BACK TO HOME
Inside a New Era of Innovation in Wisconsin
READ MORE
“The No. 1 industry that’s driving our economy is biohealth,” says John W. Miller, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), which acts as a liaison among Wisconsin’s businesses, research entities, and support resources.
Among the biggest growth areas in the sector are medical equipment manufacturing and wholesalers, with statewide suppliers producing
$7.8 billion worth of products for the industry annually. That exponential growth within biohealth was not by chance. “We take a collaborative model to not only recruit businesses but to also help businesses grow,” says Miller.
The talent-to-employment pipeline has also been robust, propped up by local institutions such as the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW-Madison), a lauded research university where groundbreaking initiatives in medicine and bioscience are born—examples include the Wisconsin Health Data Hub and the state’s Biohealth Tech Hub. With a pro-growth business environment and healthy research and development (R&D) sector thanks to the state’s excellent university system, it comes as no surprise that more than 2,200 biohealth companies have made Wisconsin their home base of operations.
With a homegrown talent advantage and an environment that prizes progress, Wisconsin is attracting big names in biohealth to multiple cities within the state’s borders, especially Madison, the state’s educational hub and state capital, and Milwaukee, where breakthroughs in biomedicine meet advances in manufacturing. Among the state’s high-profile partnership projects are global biotech firm Catalent’s $45 million expansion in Madison and pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company’s $4 billion facility expansion in Kenosha County, which is meant to increase the company’s global injectable drug manufacturing network.
Attracting businesses big and small
Medical manufacturer Abbott’s $21 billion acquisition of Exact Sciences, a Madison-based diagnostics firm with 7,000 employees, has also primed the state’s biohealth economy.
“We really make sure that our companies have the resources that they need to succeed, whether it’s potentially added capital, workforce issues, or anything else to further their growth in Wisconsin,” says Miller.
Besides acting as a resource connector for businesses and researchers, WEDC provides competitive funding grants, such as the Wisconsin Investment Fund. The fund, backed by $50 million from the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative program, is a capital resource for early-stage venture funds to be dispersed toward startups. WEDC also launched Ignite Wisconsin, a program that makes strategic investments that will advance startup companies in targeted sectors with high growth potential. WEDC recently awarded $3.5 million in grants to four consortiums, with individual grants ranging from $772,000 to $1 million.
We really make sure that our companies have the resources they need to succeed, whether it’s potentially added capital, workforce issues, or anything else to further their growth in Wisconsin.”
john w. miller
Secretary and CEO, WEDC
2.2K
+
biohealth companies have made Wisconsin their home base
of operations.
Source: WEDC
Source: WEDC
awarded in grants from WEDC to strengthen some of Wisconsin’s fastest growing startup sectors in 2026.
$3.5M
Beyond financial incentives, Wisconsin’s government has backed strong public-private initiatives over the years. BioForward, an industry association, is one of the driving forces behind the biohealth sector’s cohesion among stakeholders. The organization runs Wisconsin’s Biohealth Tech Hub, overseeing the hub alongside a steering committee of 17 business partners and organizations.
The power of partnerships
“The hub has been a really fantastic show of support to build the biohealth industry that we all know is so strong here in Wisconsin,” says Jessica Martin Eckerly, CEO and cofounder of Forward BIOLABS, a shared laboratory facility located at University Research Park in Madison that operates as part of the larger association.
The laboratory aims to lower the barrier of entry into the sector for small biohealth entrepreneurs through access to resources and Wisconsin’s larger industry network. “Our laboratories and the support that we provide enable a company to avoid what is often months of additional fundraising, negotiating a lease, and obtaining equipment. All of that is eliminated when they can come to Forward BIOLABS and start immediately,” says Eckerly.
Hear from Jessica Martin Eckerly on the impact of public-private sector collaboration in Wisconsin.
Forward BIOLABS’s promising results have led to the expansion of its operations in Milwaukee to boost independent biohealth startups. These public-private initiatives exemplify what can be achieved through hybrid long-term partnerships.
R&D is a huge component of any science sector, and Wisconsin’s biohealth industry has benefited from the high concentration of research institutions in the greater Madison area. Local researchers have made strides in personalized medicine—medical care tailor-made based on a patient’s specific genetics and health conditioning—which were made possible through the launch of the Wisconsin Health Data Hub. Led by researchers at the UW-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health, the data hub aims to create a comprehensive and secure health database that health enterprises in the state can access to better inform the production of medical products and treatments.
R&D and education working hand in hand
“When companies move to Wisconsin or plant their operations here, what they tell me is they are very happy with the talent that they’re able to hire,” says Eckerly. “They’re really excited about the access to ecosystem resources here that they don’t have in bigger hubs.”
A home of world-class talent
Companies looking to relocate to greener pastures for growth often look at an area’s potential to provide a secure pipeline toward end-product results—and it all starts with hiring the right talent. Wisconsin was the first in the country to develop a technical college system and has long placed importance on early industry-specific training, making it competitive in churning out high-potential recruits for businesses.
For CEOs deciding where to deploy capital, talent, and long-term operations, Wisconsin is a standout as a high‑confidence growth play in U.S. biohealth. The state offers something increasingly rare: an ecosystem large enough to support scale yet coordinated enough to move quickly. Executives will find globally relevant research flowing directly into commercialization pipelines, a workforce trained for both discovery and precision manufacturing, and a public-private structure that shortens—not complicates—the path from site selection to operation. As legacy hubs grapple with rising costs, overcrowded infrastructure, and intense competition for talent, Wisconsin is positioning itself as a place where leaders can build faster, operate more efficiently, and still compete at the highest level of the biohealth economy.
A new age of progress and collaboration
Learn more about doing business in Wisconsin at wedc.org/biohealth.
Eurofins scientist works in a lab as companies in Wisconsin are innovating across biohealth, including diagnostics, therapeutics, and biomanufacturing.
A MilliporeSigma scientist in a full-body protection suit produces a very high-potent drug for treating different cancers.
A scientist at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals conducts precision laboratory work.
Scientists at Exact Sciences process samples and support the development of advanced diagnostic tests.
A startup formulates a novel drug delivery system, developing tools for genre therapy manufacturing in Forward BIOLABS’s coworking laboratory.
A Versiti researcher prepares laboratory samples as part of ongoing biomedical and blood health research.
The U.S. remains a top player in biohealth and pharmaceuticals, despite increasing competition. The nation boasts the highest number of drugs in active development, holding 40% of the global market share. Beyond its contribution to overall economic activity, the growth of the U.S. biohealth industry has also led to an increase in research breakthroughs supporting better health worldwide. Epicenters of this type of research innovation are emerging in regions across the country, with Wisconsin leading the way.
Wisconsin has made great strides in biomedicine and health, particularly in crucial areas of personalized medicine and biopharmaceutical research. The state’s rising status as a leader in biohealth was cemented in 2023 when the state was federally designated as a U.S. regional tech hub. Today, Wisconsin boasts a $37.7 billion biohealth industry.
Wisconsin is not just fertile ground for big players in biohealth and pharma. A crucial driver behind Wisconsin’s rise as a new innovation hub is the state’s collaborative spirit, which embraces enterprises of all sizes, including small startups.
To encourage ongoing enterprise and innovation, WEDC provides growth opportunities for entities in biohealth to expand their work.
The concentration of elite research in the state’s capital has led to a 28% increase in R&D spending at the state’s universities alone. These institutions include renowned health and medicine schools, such as the University of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Marquette University.
But the jewel of Wisconsin’s higher education system is UW-Madison, where research expenditures surpassed $1.9 billion in 2025. That record-high spending puts the public university among the top five higher learning institutions in research expenditures in the country, marking the state’s commitment to pioneering research.
In Wisconsin, the biohealth industry supplies more than 53,300 jobs, with employment in medical equipment suppliers rising at a steady pace and 14% higher than it was before the pandemic.
The state has poured $5.5 million—in addition to funds from local districts—into fabrication laboratories at the K-12 level for students to receive hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. That investment continues at the college level with the highly integrated Wisconsin Technical College System. The college system is the backbone of Wisconsin’s quality manufacturing force, with nearly 275,000 students enrolled in 16 colleges and more than 50 campuses
providing skills training statewide.
As the biohealth industry evolves, the question is no longer whether new epicenters will emerge but rather where leaders choose to build them. Increasingly, Wisconsin is the answer.
“Industries across Wisconsin are working together in ways that weren’t really possible 10 or 20 years ago,” says Eckerly. “It’s really exciting to see how far we’ve come and what’s coming up on the horizon.”
BACK TO HOME
