Call it the "Lilly effect." The Wall Street Journal mapped out several places in America which have thrived in spite of a sour economy and quickly zeroed in on Indiana's booming life sciences industry. Crediting Eli Lilly's millions in seed and venture funds for helping bankroll a lineup of drug development companies, a host of new biopharma shops have been lured to the state, creating 8,800 new life sciences jobs at more than 800 companies.
As anyone in the biotech business will tell you, success at building a hub breeds further success at growing a hub. Now that there are a host of drug developers and support operations in the state, new startups are finding significant help available for realizing and achieving their own dreams.
"We have access to companies in Indiana where we can outsource functions like toxicology, analytics and clinical supply," Endocyte CEO Ron Ellis tells the Journal. BioCritica's CEO says he was drawn to Indiana by the pioneering spirit that had taken hold of the area. "It's all new and exciting here for these folks," he says, "so there is a hunger for doing this type of thing."
The Journal's gung-ho review for Indiana offers the kind of high-profile recognition most state economic development officials can only dream of. No doubt there are several state officials--and a few Lilly workers--who are pinching themselves this morning.
- read the WSJ article