Texas officials and leaders from the medical industry gathered earlier this week to discuss the future of the states' biotech sector. Texas has the medical facilities and money to compete globally, said attendees, but the state lacks business leaders. According to the Star Telegram, 33,000 Texans are employed in the biotech industry, with an average salary of $84,000. "More investments mean more jobs and innovations that improve human life, and that is really what this has all been about," Governor Rick Perry said in his keynote speech. The Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute is supporting several legislations to that end:
- Reauthorization for the the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, established in 2005 with a budget of $200 million, to provide incentives for innovations in technology;
- Legislation that would make it easier for patients to enroll in clinical trials;
- The elimination of sales tax on equipment used by manufacturers in research and development from state sales tax.
Meanwhile, Maryland business leaders are urging state officials to use discretionary funds and supplemental appropriations created by the stimulus package to double its biotech investment tax credit to $12 million for the next fiscal year. Last year, Governor O'Malley said the budget would be doubled but decided not to include the expansion in his 2010 fiscal budget released in January, citing the economy.
Created in 2006, the program provides investors in Maryland's small biotechs a 50 percent credit against state income taxes. Those biotechs must be headquartered in Maryland, have fewer than 50 employees and have been in business less than 12 years.
The tax incentive program is the most important program the state has for creating and sustaining young biotech companies which cannot otherwise compete for NIH grants or other institutional funding. And in this tough venture capital market, a lack of investment incentives may mean the end for many of Maryland's small biotechs, Mark Zug, CFO of Rockville-based Sequella tells the Gazette. "Whether the tax credit program is funded at $6 million or $12 million in fiscal 2010, it will be a small line item in a $31.5 billion statewide budget," Zug said. "However, it may be the difference between capital investment and life, or job loss and death, for many Maryland biotech companies."
- check out the Star Telegram for more on Texas
- read more on the Maryland legislation
ALSO: Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is pushing two tort-reform measures in an effort to attract more biotech jobs to the state. One would shield drug companies and medical product manufacturers from product liability lawsuits for products approved by the FDA, while the other would force plaintiffs to pay the legal fees in cases that are dismissed early. Report