The 15th annual Texas Life Science Forum brought together investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders from Texas and around the U.S. and the world for a day of panels, company pitch sessions and networking events. Co-hosted by BioHouston and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, the forum, held at Rice University’s McNair Hall Nov. 10, focused on discussions about what’s happening and what’s next in advancing Texas’s life science discoveries toward patient impact.
The forum featured pitches to prospective investors and corporate partners from 46 emerging companies in biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics and manufacturing. Participating companies came from eight U.S. states and six countries and have collectively raised more than $436 million. Close to 200 one-on-one meetings between companies and investors took place during Office Hours.
John (J.R.) Reale, executive director of the Rice Alliance, and Jeff Wade, chairman of BioHouston, welcomed attendees. William McKeon, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center, opened the program with a look at the TMC as a catalyst for innovation. He noted that in just a decade, Texas has built an ecosystem that advances life science innovation and delivers capital to early-stage startups in a high-risk industry.
“It’s hard for startups to raise money before they’re ready for traditional venture capital investment, yet that early capital is essential to accelerating innovation,” McKeon said. “That’s what this ecosystem makes possible.”
A J.P. Morgan panel then examined biotech market conditions and the capital-raising environment. Panelists noted that investment sentiment has become more positive for biotech and life sciences companies over the last year.
In a fireside chat moderated by Wade, Michael Torres, who founded and led CrossBridge Bio, one of the forum’s 2025 Most Promising Life Science Companies, shared lessons from his journey as a successful entrepreneur and company founder. Investors also weighed in on what makes an early-stage company worth backing.
A concurrent educational symposium covered AI in health care innovation; new directions in Alzheimer’s, dementia and neurodegenerative disease; and strategies for pursuing two indications with a single asset.
The afternoon opened with legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg entertaining and educating the audience on what it takes to build a winning team, followed by leaders from Houston’s research institutions discussing their strategies for turning world-class academic research into commercial opportunities.
Symposium sessions examined the brain economy, Food and Drug Administration priorities for 2027, life science M&A trends, IP strategy and startup capital structure. The day’s final session, featuring the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and innovative new funds focused on seed investment, highlighted bridging the early-stage financing gap.
Dr. Arthur Sands, president and CEO of Nurix Therapeutics, delivered the keynote address on the evolution of biotechnology and therapeutic modalities. Drawing on his experience leading Houston-area Lexicon Pharmaceuticals and San Francisco-based Nurix, he compared the biotech landscapes of the two regions, pointing to Houston’s advantage in clinical trials and noting that the right people follow wherever innovation is heating up. He urged founders to cut their losses early, stressing that drugs, not platforms, create lasting value.
“In the end, it’s about the impact we have on patients’ lives,” Sands said.
Throughout the day, companies presented pitches. Technologies ranged from an implantable heart pump and an artificial lung to a breath test that flags CAR-T patients at high risk of cytokine release syndrome, alongside therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, pancreatic cancer and more.
The forum closed with its annual awards: the 10 Most Promising Life Science Companies, as voted by investors; the BioHouston Michael E. DeBakey Memorial Life Science Award; and the People’s Choice Award, voted by attendees.
Most Promising Life Science Companies:
- Ambrosia Space
- Bairitone Health
- Branch Therapeutics
- Flux Robotics
- Imagine Devices
- ImmunoBreath
- Kallisio
- NovaScan
- Persevere Therapeutics
- Prana Surgical
People’s Choice Winner:
- Flux Robotics
BioHouston Michael E. DeBakey Memorial Life Science Award:
- Nemea Therapeutics
Several industry, academic and community partners supported the forum, led by the Texas Medical Center along with Baker Botts, Beacon CoLab at Helix Park, Biointelect, DLA Piper, J.P. Morgan, Wilson Sonsini and others invested in Texas’ innovation ecosystem.
Meet this year’s most promising companies and find out more about the forum at txlifescienceforum.org.