When the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas opened its door to students in 2016, tech leaders and city officials had high hopes that it would be a boon to the health care sector of Austin’s economy.

Now, industry leaders say, they are starting to see results.

The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce reported an increase in the number of life science companies in talks with the city and the number of companies that end up moving here since the opening of the medical school. The region now has more than 250 life science companies, which the chamber defines as biologics, medical devices, diagnostics, pharmaceutical, contract research and others.

When the $436 million Dell Medical School opened in 2016, "the interest level jumped pretty high," said Charisse Bodisch, the chamber’s senior vice president of economic development. "We’ve continued to see more companies come here."

Bodisch estimates that more than 40 life science companies have started operations in Austin in the past two years. And in 2016, the chamber spoke to 32 companies who expressed an interest in working in Austin — more than double the number of companies expressing interest to the chamber the year before.

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