Hopes and Cures

Recently, there was an interesting study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the New England Healthcare Institute, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Xconomy and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative on the Massachusetts Life Sciences Super Cluster, showing the value of a strong science sector economically.   This Super Cluster includes Universities, teaching hospitals, biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical companies.  Software, venture capital, associations, and specialized life sciences businesses complete this cluster. 

The Massachusetts life science sector contributes approximately $8.8 billion annually and the life sciences workforce increased 8% between 2001 and 2006 while the rest of the MA workforce declined 2.5%.  We in the biotech industry most often discuss the value of the industry in terms of innovation and value to the public through new treatments/therapies, biofuels, and other improvements.  The Massachusetts numbers perfectly reflect this standard.

The Super Cluster study illustrates how life sciences contribute to local communities by providing revenue and jobs.  It also shows that growth in biotech cannot be taken for granted.  There is some concern that NIH funding has not kept pace with inflation and is negatively impacting collaborative efforts between research institutions and companies.  However, Massachusetts is a large receiver of SBIR/STTR Funding:

 [1st-chart]  Even in talent-rich life science super cluster areas like Massachusetts, developing research into commercially available products requires strong partnerships among universities, teaching hospitals, life science companies and venture capitalists.  

It was very exciting to see that an overwhelming number of life science executives surveyed (66.2%) said they consider themselves entrepreneurs [2nd-chart] and 66.8% expect their next position to be in a start-up company.  The innovative and entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the life sciences industry- we should make sure we keep it that way.