Innovator Partner
Colorado Health & Tech Centers
With a vision to develop 1 million square feet over the next decade across four campuses in the Denver metro area, we’re building state-of-the-art spaces for biotechnology, technology, medical, and advanced manufacturing companies.
Our mission is to become Denver’s most versatile, agile, and capable developer of work environments—spaces intentionally designed to help companies attract, develop, and retain the brightest minds in their industries, right here in Colorado.
Colorado Health & Tech Centers
Afshin Safavi, Ph.D.
Founder, CEO and President
Dr. Afshin Safavi is a founder, councilman, consultant, board member, entrepreneur, and investor in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, animal health, technology, and real-estate sectors with multi-billion-dollar turnovers in biological products and is responsible for multiple drug products in the market today. He has founded Colorado Health & Tech Centers (CHTC) and BioAgilytix Labs, one of the most successful multi-billion-dollar Contract Research Organizations known internationally. He has extensive experience establishing and leading teams in pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies. Before founding Colorado Health & Tech Centers and BioAgilytix Labs, he worked for various organizations, including AAIPharma, Bayer Biologicals, Talecris BioTherapeutics (Grifols), Nobex Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, and IGEN International.
I founded Colorado Health & Tech Centers (CHTC) to move at the speed of innovation with the best locations, a collaborative and holistic design/build process, and our commitment to high-speed, low-drag decision-making and execution.
Afshin Safavi, Ph.D.
Meet Colorado Health & Tech Centers
Partner News and Insights
Afshin Safavi, Ph.D.: Investing in Colorado’s Momentum as a Hub for Health Innovation
Afshin Safavi, Ph.D., moved to Colorado in 2016, drawn by the state’s inspiring mountain views and entrepreneurial energy. Colorado’s unique combination of talent, R&D leadership, and commitment to elevating science made the case for Colorado even more appealing. After helping build biotech ecosystems around the world, Dr. Safavi saw Colorado’s momentum as a hub for health innovation and chose to add his experience to that growth.
Dr. Safavi brings decades of leadership to this effort. He founded BioAgilytix Labs, now one of the world’s most successful bioanalytical contract research organizations. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at Bayer Biologicals, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols (formerly Talecris BioTherapeutics), Nobex Corporation, and AAIPharma. His work supported multiple drug products that reached patients, while his teams created thousands of jobs in the U.S. and abroad.
This September also marks 40 years since Dr. Safavi immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. He reflects with gratitude on the education, opportunities, and entrepreneurial freedom that allowed him to build companies and contribute to life-saving medicines. That journey fuels his commitment to protecting America’s leadership in life sciences and solidifying Colorado’s presence as a top 20 global life sciences R&D hub.
“Colorado has smarts, ambition, and momentum,” Dr. Safavi says. “We have what it takes to lead in life sciences, and with Colorado Health Tech Centers we are creating the spaces where innovation begins, grows, and reaches patients everywhere.”
Colorado Health Tech Centers (CHTC) is Dr. Safavi’s latest venture: a network of campuses planned along the I-25 corridor. By reimagining and adaptively reusing existing buildings, CHTC accelerates development, cuts costs, and places sustainability at the center of its approach.
The Greenwood Village site in South Metro Denver, was a stop on CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour. Additional sites in Denver, Aurora, and Colorado Springs are in the planning stages. These hubs are planned to give biotech, medical device, and AI companies purpose-built facilities that match their pace of innovation.
Dr. Safavi is an active leader in the state’s life sciences community. He also mentors entrepreneurs, invests in promising startups, and serves on local boards, including the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship’s Advisory Council. He and his family enjoy Colorado’s adventurous lifestyle, often exploring the same mountains that first drew them here.
For Dr. Safavi, Colorado is both home and the future of health innovation.
Afshin Safavi Talks Tech Ecosystems, Industry Experience, and Job Creation
Live from Denver Channel 7’s new studio, Afshin Safavi, Founder and President of Colorado Health & Tech Centers (CHTC) talks with Sam Boik about Colordo’s STEM ecosystem, lessons from his previous companies, and creating Colorado jobs.
Recently designated a National Quantum Hub, Colorado is set for a booming next decade. From quantum to biotech, AI, space exploration, and medical technology, CHTC is excited to be riding the wave of innovation and investing in state-of-the-art facilities. Founding Bioagilytix in 2008, Safavi turned an economic collapse into an incredible opportunity. As a contract research organization working with pharmaceutical companies, he was able to create jobs for recently laid-off scientists and surround himself with brilliant researchers to work with leading pharmaceutical companies and create life-saving medications. At CHTC, Safavi is applying the same proven formula to foster others’ innovative ideas.
Building 10 innovation hubs throughout Colorado, Safavi is aiming to create jobs by offering affordable solutions that allow funding to be invested into hiring talent. In addition to the Colorado Health & Tech Centers team, team, the smallest of CHTC facilities will have several hundred tenant employees. The largest projects will see thousands of employees across various industries who in turn develop innovative technologies and support the Colorado economy.
The Five Elements of Colorado Becoming a Top Five Biotech Hub
In a follow-up interview on Denver’s Channel 7, Afshin Safavi, Ph.D. talks about Colorado Health & Tech Centers (CHTC), his project and vision to build one million square feet of innovation space in Colorado, his involvement in Governor Polis’ Nordic Investment Mission 2024, and what it will take to push Colorado into the top five U.S. biotech hubs.
After returning from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland as part of the Governor’s delegation, Safavi followed up with interviewer Sam Boik to discuss how working with our Nordic counterparts will bring investment, collaboration, and foreign talent to Colorado. Safavi is building his own campuses to support both foreign and local innovators. Calling on an extensive background in biotech and serial entrepreneurship, he sees five core elements that will together help Colorado become not just one of the top biotech innovation hubs in the United States, but worldwide.
By providing the physical space (1), for our own local talent (2), bringing in funding (3), partnering with experienced industry consultants (4), and working together with local and state governments (5), CHTC is helping spur innovation and give start-ups the support they need to go from an idea, to product, to market.
Establishing International Health and Technology Centers in Colorado
In recent years, Colorado’s life sciences and biotechnology sectors have demonstrated remarkable growth, bringing $1.47 billion in funding to the state in 2023. To support the growth and health of life sciences in Colorado, creative partners are addressing barriers to entry driven by high operational costs associated with setting up and maintaining laboratory space and limited access to sophisticated equipment.
A groundbreaking solution is underway in the heart of Colorado. Founded by Dr. Afshin Safavi, the Colorado Health Tech Centers (CHTC) are campuses across Colorado offering physical space and customized resources to businesses expanding their operations to Colorado, from budding start-ups to established multinational corporations.
“Our mission at Colorado Health & Tech Centers is clear: To become Colorado’s most versatile, agile, and capable developer of work environments designed to enable companies to attract, develop, and retain their industry’s best and brightest talent,” said Afshin Safavi, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Colorado Health & Tech Centers.
Colorado’s central location gives companies a competitive advantage. With one of the world’s top international airports, a rate-friendly freight environment, and move-in ready or customizable lab space, Colorado has the room to build, developers who understand the life sciences industry, and a location that attracts talent and is easy to access.
How a Serial Entrepreneur Plans to Bring Biotech Innovation Hubs to Colorado
When Afshin Safavi moved to Colorado with his wife and two daughters in 2016, he intended to retire. The serial entrepreneur and veteran biochemist had spent the first ten years of his career working for innovative pharmaceutical companies like Bayer, GSK, and Grifols. Then, he spent 15 years focused on leading bioanalytical teams developing safety and efficacy testing in support of biological products in preclinical and clinical-trial laboratories. By 2008, he had launched his own global contract research company, BioAgilytix Labs, which he sold—with plans to retire. But after settling down in the Centennial State, he saw a real need that he couldn’t ignore, the state’s booming life sciences and biotech ecosystem with a growing number of renowned researchers, scientists, and more than 1,000 bioscience-related companies. He established Colorado Health & Tech Centers (CHTC) with the goal to build one million square feet of biotech and lab space over the next ten years throughout Colorado.
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Meet Our Partners
Colorado:
Hub for Health Impact
We love to collaborate with new arrivals. Our welcoming life sciences community is right-sized for high-growth companies. There’s more than a million square feet of lab space planned or in development critical infrastructure and state support for startups expansions and relocations. Our supportive partners are ready for every step of the journey.