bio

The Baltimore Workforce Investment Board plan aims to ensure growth by securing a highly motivated and well trained workforce for the citys bioscience sector. Two consulting firms conducted the research by studying economic and demographic trends in the Baltimore area. The report suggests that vigorous technology commercialization efforts from the research base is lacking the effort to bolster its growth.

Previously published research by two of the authors found that returns on research and development (R&D) for drugs introduced into the market in the 1970s and 1980s were highly skewed and that the top decile of the new drugs accounted for close to half the overall market value. These findings provide support for a model of intensive R&D competition by pharmaceutical firms to gain economic advantage through product innovation and differentiation.

The report attempts to target resource allocation at the state and regional level, align public policies with desired economic and societal outcomes and foster tighter bonds between industry, government, and citizens among others.

Louisiana Governor Mike Fosters economic development plan calls for $37 million for a Biosciences Initiative, at the states top research universities, $15 million to support industry clusters for regional universities, and $8.4 million to spur enrollment growth in community and technical colleges. Coupled by a $150 million bond issue, funding for bioscience endeavors would equal a $187 million investment.

The New Hampshire Biotechnology Business Incubator Feasibility Study presents a critical assessment of New Hampshires ability to support technology-related business incubators, with emphasis on biotechnology facilities connected to universities such as Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire.

The Brookings Institution report indicates that nine metropolitan areas have been identified as the nations possessing the greatest concentration of the U.S. biotechnology industry. The study reports that the nine areas account for more than 60 percent of all spending on research by the National Institutes of Health; slightly less than two-thirds of all biotech-related patents; eight of every nine VC dollars invested in biopharmaceuticals; and, 95 percent of the dollars in research alliances.

The report funded by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development is part of the Bioscience Dialogue, a collaborative effort within the states biotechnology industry to identify issues of importance to its growth. The report traces the background of 276 company founders in Maryland and highlights its findings in bio-entrepreneurship.

Over the past 30 years, industrial plantation forests have become a major supplier of industrial wood. There are several reasons for this, according to the author, including the improved economics of planted forests due to biotechnological innovations, the increases in natural forest wood costs due to increasing inaccessibility, and rising wood costs from natural forests due to new environmental restrictions related to logging.

The report examines the agri-chemical industry as a subsector of life sciences. The purpose of the analysis is to determine the life sciences sector impact on Missouris economy.

The Progressive Policy Institute report discusses the debate over the safety of genetically engineered food. To address these policy areas effectively, the author contends, policy-makers must understand the current scientific findings in biotechnology.