DELL LOY HANSEN--MORAL CAPITALIST.

• Author: Sessions, Travis

Utah's life sciences industry wouldn't be as far advanced as it is today without the generous contribution of Dell Loy Hansen.

Dell Loy Hansen is known for his major league soccer team, his expansive real estate holdings, and his philanthropic donations, but what he's not as well-known for is his commitment to developing innovative medical technologies that provide greater value and better outcomes for patients--especially for technologies of this kind being developed in Utah.

Utah has a rich life sciences tradition, with industry pioneers such as James Sorenson and Dale Ballard paving the way to modern, innovative products and impactful research. These entrepreneur's efforts were the seeds that led to the establishment of many of Utah's largest medical device companies.

Despite its storied past, however, investment in new Utah life sciences companies has declined over the past two decades, as venture capital has moved away from medical devices and toward opportunities that are less risky and less strictly regulated.

Hansen has been a key player in maintaining and revitalizing Utah's investment in medical device startups since his entrance into the industry more than 20 plus years ago.

When Travis Sessions, founder and CEO of Biomerics, was looking for startup funding to commercialize its implantable polymers, he found the right partner in Hansen.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Starting back in 1994, Dell Loy Hansen was a partner in a plastics injection molding company, called Utah Plastics Group (UPG). The company molded parts for customers, working with a range of products and polymer-based materials. Some of these customers had utilized UPG to develop medical device components and housed a cleanroom in the injection molding space.

In 2008, Travis Sessions approached UPG partners to discuss the idea of an acquisition--morphing UPG into what is known today as Biomerics, LLC. It was at this meeting that Sessions and Hansen first formed the strong business relationship that continues to this day.

Biomerics followed Hansen's "better every day" philosophy, and with his guidance, the company has grown from a one-person polymer startup to a full-service medical device manufacturer with more than 1,100 employees.

Today, Biomerics is a competitive manufacturer of medical devices for the attractive and minimally invasive interventional market. Thanks to Biomerics' rapid growth, new life sciences business opportunities started to present...