Economic development

Analysts: Big Biotech will grow despite economy

Calisha Myers — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:42:26 -0500

Although they've fallen from the record highs posted in August, biotech stocks aren't as risky as many fear--or expensive, says a report by Barron's. Not surprisingly, Big biotech is doing better on Wall Street than their smaller counterparts, but they're also doing better than the broader stock market and will continue to grow. Barron's report has a number of analysts touting Big Biotech's resilience: "The biggest companies will grow profits irrespective of what happens in the economy," says Evan McCulloch, manager of the Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund. "At a time when growth rates elsewhere are decelerating or turning negative, there is a sense of certainty with these companies."

Another analyst with Standard & Poor's Equity Research says Big Biotech stocks could climb as much as 15 to 20 percent annually for the next three to five years. Will Muggia, chief investment officer at Westfield Capital Management, concurs: "(Big Biotech) are some of the only companies right now that I am confident will grow earnings year over year."

Recognizing this, pharma has been eyeing biotechs with promising pipelines. Roche continues to court Genentech, while Eli Lilly managed to snatch up ImClone right from under Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Of course, there are some risks. Big Biotech has fared well despite rising unemployment rates and reports that patients are beginning to cut back on their meds. But worsening unemployment could eventually hurt even AIDS and cancer drugs, Barron's reports. And as Obama has made healthcare a top concern on his agenda, there may be new legislation for generics and pricing controls on the horizon.

- read the Barron's article for more

NC biotechs pressure Governor for funds

Maureen Martino — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:59:47 -0500

With the funding environment in turmoil, North Carolina biotechs are appealing to Governor-elect Bev Perdue to support the industry with millions of dollars in additional funds. Some execs are looking for a $200 million fund that, with the help of private investors and public money, would support companies in need of cash. Supporters of the state's industry say providing that money could not only protect its biotech sector, but also attract companies from other states that are in dire need of cash. "These companies are a platform for job creation right now," John Campbell, CEO of Campbell Alliance Group, told Forbes. "If we get in there with smart programs, we can move companies to North Carolina. Our return on investment is going to be far better if we look over the next 10 years. But we've got to act now."

But the soon-to-be Governor isn't making any promises. North Carolina is facing a budget deficit of as much as $1.6 billion dollars, and in a meeting with North Carolina's biotechs earlier this week Perdue said the government doesn't have the kind of funds they're looking for. At the same time, however, Perdue promised the state will do what it can to support the industry, which is responsible for creating many high-quality jobs. "We don't get through it by shutting down any of our hope for the future," Perdue said. "This is basic investment in building jobs and creating a work force for the future. And I'm going to be a part of making that happen."

- read the Forbes article

Arizona still hopeful for biotech hub

Calisha Myers — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:58:31 -0500

The current economic situation will hurt biotech, as well as emerging tech sectors, such as clean tech, but these industries "will eventually bring us out of this collapse," Sandra Kay Helsel tells the Arizona Daily Star. "Innovation and emerging tech are the drivers of the future."

And who will be at the forefront when biotech comes out on the other end of this whirlwind? It could be Arizona's biotechs. With no biotech hub to speak of yet, the state is an unlikely leader, but it does have its strengths. As companies continue to cut back in all areas, locals need to identify and communicate the value of maintaining jobs and facilities in Arizona, says Helsel. "My sense is that the Tucson and the greater Arizona biotech cluster is on the edge of a positive and powerful tipping point." According to Helsel, biotechs could greatly benefit from the research being conducted at the University of Arizona. The community-building that is taking place amongst Arizona's biotechs is also a draw. Not to mention the quality of life in Tucson, says Helsel, a Tucson resident.

But Arizona biotech is not without its weaknesses. Despite the "community-building," the state's biotech sector isn't as aggressive in competing for business and investment as clusters in other regions. "The lack of sizable, local sources of capital has always been a problem and weakness for Tucson biotech," Helsel said.

Of course, it may just be the "community-building" in Arizona that propels its growth. Earlier this year, Arizona finally got its first venture capital firm dedicated to early-stage bioscience companies. Some of the top names in Arizona's biotech sector pooled their funds to help spur the industry. The Translational Accelerator launched in March, with $20 million in funds for life science companies in or looking to move to Arizona. And let's not forget that with the launch of ThirdBiotech Research Group this past summer, researchers, investors and industry execs will have more opportunities for collaboration.

Credit crunch forces delay at NY biotech complex

John Carroll — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:52:24 -0500

With virtually no new money flowing for construction projects, Alexandria Real Estate Equities has had to postpone the second phase of the East River Science Park. The $700 million project is intended to follow on the 310,000-square-foot first phase on the 3.7 acre complex, which is intended to help jump start the city's biotech industry.

BioRegion News quotes Alexandria CEO Joel Marcus saying that lenders were ready to go again "as soon as the credit markets either loosen or un-seize in a more dramatic fashion."

- read the story from the New York Post

NYC bids to become biotech hub

Maureen Martino — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:39:05 -0500

On Wednesday, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative will officially open operations in an abandon World War I military supply warehouse. The Brooklyn Army Terminal, as it's known, will be home to a number of bioscience companies and organizations. New York City has invested $35 million in revamping the space, which it hopes will attract high-value R&D jobs to the area. "This is a down payment on an industry that we think is going to be a major tax generator for both the city and the state for many years," said Seth W. Pinsky, president of the city's Economic Development Corporation.

New York has been hit particularly hard by the ongoing financial crisis, as some of the biggest banks on Wall Street have collapsed. The push to attract biotech jobs is part of the city's plans to diversify into other industries. And the Brooklyn Army Terminal project is just the beginning. The city is developing a $700 million biotech complex known as the East river Science Park, which will have more than 1 million square feet of office and lab space. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Despite the fact that New York has an enormous amount of medical science talent, it has a small share of the biotech company pie. The city usually loses out to biotech hubs like Massachusetts and San Francisco where the cost of doing business is much lower.

- read the New York Times article

A bright future for Merck's NC vaccine plant

Maureen Martino — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:23:08 -0400

Construction hasn't even finished at Merck's new Durham, North Carolina vaccine plant and the company's already considering what to do next. The $750 million plant, which is expected to be completed in 2011, will house 400 workers and the production of childhood vaccines and a shingles shot for adults. But Merck has two more experimental vaccines in testing that will need a home--another pediatric vaccine and jab to prevent staph infections. The company has vaccine ops in Elkton, VA and West Point, PA that will compete with the Durham site for the new vaccines.

When Merck initially chose North Carolina, it did so with the possibility of expansion in mind. And it's already enhanced the original plans for the site. In July, the company announced that it would invest an additional $300 million in the vaccine plant and create 180 new jobs."I'm not about to make an announcement," CEO Richard Clark (photo) told the News & Observer. "But I have a suspicion that we haven't stopped at $750 million [in Durham]." The region's growing biotech hub, along with a potential $45 million in tax breaks, will certainly make it more attractive. Merck will need to win FDA approval of the North Carolina site before vaccines manufactured there can be sold.

- read this News & Observer article for more

Biogen Idec may join migration to the 'burbs

John Carroll — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:57:12 -0400

Biogen Idec may join the exodus of biotech companies leaving Cambridge, MA and move its corporate HQ on out to the suburbs. CEO Jim Mullen (photo) says there's a pretty simple reason why the biotech giant may relocate to Weston: money.

"It's sort of the natural evolution of these things," Biogen Idec chief executive Jim Mullen tells the Boston Globe. "The cost of running a business in Cambridge is pretty high." Mullen plans to make a firm decision by the end of the year.

Cambridge, MA has developed into a thriving biotech hub largely because of the world-class scientific talent in town. But more than a half dozen biotech companies have left Cambridge in the past year to take advantage of the lower operating costs of the ‘burbs. Mullen made it clear, though, that whatever happens to the company's corporate workers, Biogen Idec's R&D work will continue to stay close to MIT, so it can retain and recruit the brainpower it needs.

- read the report from the Boston Globe

Czech city wants to be biotech hub

Maureen Martino — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:18:18 -0400

Two years ago the renowned Mayo Clinic opened its first overseas research center in Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. The city is also home to several universities, including Masaryk University and the Brno University of Technology, and city officials credit the universities for contributing to the area's rich pool of talent. Historically, the country has attracted international business by offering tax breaks, lower wages and a skilled English-speaking workforce. Now, with a $500 million investment, Brno hopes to appeal to the biotech sector and establish a reputation as a major European research hub.

The half-billion dollar plan includes a Medipark life science campus at Masaryk University, where research there will be focused on biotechnology. Brno will also construct an International Clinical Research Center, which promises to be one of Europe's largest biomedical research centers. The campus will be ready by 2010.

- read this article from Homesgofast

Denver pursues biotech hub with funding

Maureen Martino — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:07:31 -0400

Denver, CO isn't exactly a hub for biotech business, but lawmakers in the state are hoping to change that. The state approved a $26.5 million incentive package to support its biotech sector. While it's not on the same scale as California or Massachusetts' massive funding programs, lawmakers hope the money will support small biotechs in the state over the next five years and eventually lead to more bioscience business in the state. Report

Massive research consortium created in London

John Carroll — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:10:40 -0400

Four British hospitals and University College London have forged a £2 billion partnership that will create what's being billed as the largest biomedical research group in Europe. The research consortium is being developed at the urging of the British government, which has been encouraging the formation of science centers focused on the development of new therapies.

According to the Guardian, this new partnership is intended to put London at the forefront of the global drug development world. Together, the group employs more than 3,500 scientists, researchers and consultants.

"By pooling resources and expertise we will be able to produce more world-class research in key areas, including cancer and heart disease, and deliver the benefits more rapidly to patients," said the partners.

- check out the release
- read the article from The Guardian

Despite biotech sector, grads leave southeast U.S. for jobs

Maureen Martino — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:13:33 -0400

In recent years the Southeast U.S. has been recognized as a growing hub for biotech business. The area--which is made up of seven states--boasts the dynamic clusters of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. It also produces a good number of skilled graduates, such as lab technicians and PhDs, MDs and MPHs, who make for a rich crop of up-and-coming biotech workers.

But Karen Ventii of TechJournalSouth reports that many of these graduates are heading to other parts of the country to find jobs, and experts fear the "brain drain" could impact the future of the southeast's biotech hub. "It is evident that the life science industries in Georgia, North Carolina and Florida are still quite young and home-grown and, as a result, labor force issues are expected to have significant effects on growth. These problems are likely to reflect similar situations in other Southeastern states," observes Ventii. Experts say the problem is two-fold: there aren't enough jobs for students, and it's a struggle to connect students with available jobs. Southeast BIO is working to reverse this trend. The group is raising awareness about opportunities in the area so that candidates to look elsewhere and hopes to foster its biotech cluster by offering enough opportunities to keep grads in the southeast.

- check out the TechJournalSouth article

Magazine taps Pennsylvania as biotech leader

John Carroll — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:17:00 -0400

Business Facilities magazine came up with its own formula for assessing states' strength in the biotech economic development field and decided that Pennsylvania came in first. The assessment, which included a number of factors that included education, business climate and quality of life, concluded that California and Massachusetts tied for second with Ohio and Texas coming in at a tie for fourth place. Others on the top 10 list: Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Kansas and Minnesota.

Pennsylvania won kudos for its $150 million program to fund bioscience research, three regional Greenhouses to commercialize research and $32 million to fund high-tech facilities, including biotech.

- read the story in Business Facilities

Developer plots sprawling biotech complex near Boston

John Carroll — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:49:00 -0400

A developer has blueprinted a sprawling 250-acre biotech complex in the Boston area's thriving life sciences cluster. Patriot Partners says it will negotiate with the town of Burlington for the land and development costs have been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The developers do not have any tenants lined up for the laboratory and office space they're planning to build, but the suburbs around Boston have been attracting a large number of developers from Cambridge and other sites. It's also the first big development announced since the Legislature approved a $1 billion program to support the industry.

- reaad the story from the Boston Globe

Minnesota blueprints new complex for biomedical research

John Carroll — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:36:02 -0400

Officials in Minnesota are touting the potential of the planned $300 million Minnesota Biomedical Research Program, a project that already has earned legislative approval for $220 million in state funds. The University of Minnesota says the program will provide space for 100 primary researchers and 500 support staff. And the university believes it can attract $100 million a year in new research funds once the program is up and running.

The state has blueprinted 400,000 square feet of research space in four buildings to be completed in 2013. The university will start by expanding the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research and follow up with facilities that will focus on cancer, cardiovascular and infectious diseases.

- read the report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

New Jersey touts biotech growth

John Carroll — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:05:21 -0400

A new survey of New Jersey's biotech industry has found that the drug development business is growing steadily. Combined public and private biotech revenue was set at $5 billion from 238 biotech companies in the state--up from 226 in 2006. And 86 percent of the surveyed companies said they expect to hire 20 or more employees in the next 12 months. Report

Arizona out to spawn new biotechs

John Carroll — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:35:57 -0400

Arizona officials have always talked an ambitious game plan for fostering its fledgling biotech sector. Now a biotechnology incubator and life sciences association in Arizona has launched the ThirdBiotech Research Group, which includes a drug discovery research institute and technology incubator for the promotion of collaborative activities between researchers and industry.

"The group's mission is to form and establish biotech companies based in Arizona by working with collaborative partners, researchers and investors," said Jeff Morhet, CEO of InNexus Biotechnology and founder of ThirdBiotech.

- check out the press release

Maryland earmarks another $500M for biotech

John Carroll — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:00:49 -0400

Maryland is upping its ante in an ambitious bid to attract biotech companies to the state. Just days after the state took the spotlight at BIO with an announced plan to provide $1.1 billion of incentives for the industry, state officials now say they will invest up to $500 million of state pension money in the field--with Maryland-based biotechs getting the lion's share of the money.

"We're serious in Maryland about growing and supporting the industry," said Comptroller Peter Franchot.

California went a long way to setting the pace for state biotech initiatives with its $3 billion stem cell plan. And Massachusetts has gained considerable attention with its new $1 billion program. It seems like it takes at least 10 figures to grab headlines in the economic development field these days.

- read the article in the Baltimore Sun

Maryland Gov. proposes $1.1B biotech funding package

Maureen Martino — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:49:23 -0400

Massachusetts' Deval Patrick isn't the only governor pushing biotech investment this week. In a speech at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine yesterday, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley announced plans to invest $1.1 billion in the state's bioscience industry by the year 2020. Maryland already has a sizable biotech sector with 370 companies calling the state home, as well as the NIH and other research institutions. However, many Maryland-based outfits haven't been successful getting blockbuster meds onto the market. O'Malley thinks the investment will bolster the state's activities and shore up its position as one of the leading centers for biotech business.

The details of the plan are as follows:

Maryland will double its biotech investment tax credit next year and again in the next five years
$20M will be funneled into stem cell research
$60 million would go to funding biotech start-ups
$300 million would be invested into life science facilities
O'Malley wants to create a Maryland Biotechnology Center to bridge the gap between research and the marketplace
$188 million would be invested in nanotechnology
The Maryland Technology Transfer Fund would receive $107 million
Finally, the Maryland Venture fund would get an additional $152 million

Several years ago Maryland made FierceBiotech's list of the top five regions targeting economic development.

- read the Washington Post article for more

Mass. Governor to sign $1B incentives plan

John Carroll — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:16:55 -0400

Thousands of biotech execs flocking to San Diego for the annual BIO meeting are likely to hear an earful from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who will be arriving with a freshly approved, $1 billion incentives program to woo biotech companies. Lawmakers had signed off on the legislation late last week, leaving Patrick just enough time to sign the bill today before hopping a flight to the West Coast confab.

The best thing that Massachusetts has going for it is a thriving cluster of life science companies that have created a legion of experienced executives and top scientists--many of whom work among the universities in and around Boston. That kind of cluster effect--added to a new slate of incentives--is likely to make the state much more effective at attracting more companies to the area. It should also help overcome many of the bureaucratic barriers that start-ups faced in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts made FierceBiotech's list of top economic development areas for the industry this year--a first for the state.

- read the story from the Boston Globe

UM blueprints sprawling new biotech complex

John Carroll — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:57:12 -0400

The University of Miami medical school says that a new, 1.4 million square foot laboratory complex will help propel development of a new biotech cluster in the region. The complex will provide lab and office space to companies commercializing the research work being done at the university. And UM is buying 7.2 acres to make it happen.

''This is a really big project for Miami and for the University of Miami,'' said the dean of UM's medical school, Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt. "It's way beyond the University of Miami, to tell you the truth. There's an opportunity to develop an area of the economy we have not been particularly strong at, but could be strong at.''

- read the article from the Miami Herald