The Contributions of Biotechnology and the Biosciences in Massachusetts

Background: Biotechnology -- the use of biological processes to solve problems or make useful products -- may be only 30 years old, but it is already delivering on its promise, providing hundreds of new medicines and diagnostics, as well as improving foods and technologies that make manufacturing cleaner and more efficient.

Massachusetts is home to one of the most innovative and consistently productive biotech clusters in the nation and is forecasted to standout as the projected top growth performers over the next decade.

The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council has created an internal Industry Development program to promote biotechnology in the state. In addition, MassDevelopment, the state's lead economic-development financing agency has been active in identifying and recruiting biotech companies in Massachusetts. Various Massachusetts organizations and think tanks have developed economic "roadmaps" outlining the future role of biosciences. Two organizations, The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and the MassInsight Corporation, recognized biotech as a leading opportunity area for an industry and academia partnership.

Companies: Massachusetts is a world leader in biotech research and development with more than 600 bioscience companies in the state, clustered around Boston, Cambridge, Worcester, and Amherst. These Massachusetts companies rely on nearly $500 million in risk venture capital funding a year to finance their R&D and bring new drugs to market.

Academic Institutions: With renowned academic institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Boston University, University of Massachusetts (Amherst and Worcester), Northeastern University, the state has successfully fostered a productive collaboration between academia and private industry with profound economic benefits for the state. The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) has received $35 million to establish the John Adams Innovation Institute. This Institute gives the state the ability, for the first time, to make grants for research-based initiatives. This includes a $20 million Research Center Matching Fund to create or expand centers that bring federal or industrial support in three predetermined fields, one being biotechnology. The MTC, along with the Boston Foundation, will also provide support to expand the 2003 Harvard/Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Life Sciences summit.

Employment: Massachusetts has the highest concentration of biopharmaceutical employment relative to the size of its overall economy. In fact, in 2003 the bioscience industry in Massachusetts employed more than 52,000 people and is responsible for the creation of an additional 77,300 jobs in other sectors of the economy. The average salary for a biotech employee is more than $82,000.

Economic Contributions: Biotechnology has been a significant economic driver in the state. In 2003, the biotech industry generated $4.8 billion in economic output for the state, which resulted in $1.5 billion in taxes for federal, state, and local government. Massachusetts' biotech industry has grown 96% in the last 10 years and is projected to grow by 64.3% over the next 10 years, adding 14,500 new jobs and could potentially see total earning of about $10.8 billion.

References:

Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, www.massbio.org

Battelle Technology Partnership Practice and SSTI, Growing the Nation's Biotech Sector 2006, April 2006, http://www.bio.org/local/battelle2004

Milken Institute, Biopharmaceutical Industry Contributions to State and U.S. Economics, October 2004, http://www.milkeninstitute.org/pdf/biopharma_report.pdf (PDF)

For a full list of BIO member companies in your state, please visit www.bio.org/members/biomembers.asp

More Information:

For more information, please visit www.bio.org or contact Brent Del Monte, Vice President for Federal Government Relations at BIO, at (202) 962-9200.