BIO meeting sets stage for aspiring cluster cities

BIO is gathering for its annual meeting now, so it's only natural that there's a slate of new reports out touting various regions in the U.S. as being the best in biotech based on a wide range of factors.

A new report out from the Milken Institute ranks Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco as the nation's most successful metropolitan areas when it comes to sustaining life sciences value. San Francisco dropped from second to third, allowing Philadelphia to jump to second. That probably will make the folks at Select Greater Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Congress and Pennsylvania Bio-- which helped sponsor the study--quite happy.

"We've been saying for years that regions that cultivate their life sciences assets--including universities, hospitals, tech spin-offs and start-ups--are best prepared to succeed in a changing economy," said Ross DeVol, director of Regional Economics at the Milken Institute.

BIO CEO Jim Greenwood, meanwhile, will take center stage at BIO today, and he plans to acknowledge the tough times the industry faces while touting the industry's resilience.

- for Milken's take on the top 10 regions, check out this release
- read this release on Greenwood's comments

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