Monday, June 16, 2008

From the BIO floor: Bay State touts patents, NIH funding

By Catherine Williams, Special to Mass High Tech

The Bay State life sciences industry is ranked first in some federal funding categories and leads the nation in patents per capita, according to a report to be released by Massachusetts state officials at the BIO 2008 conference. California and other states, meanwhile continue to lead in other key areas, such as total federal dollars attracted.
 
Massachusetts led the nation in National Institutes of Health funding in 2006, according to the report newly released by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. Massachusetts received $313 per capita in funding, second to Washington, D.C., which won $316 per capita during the same period. Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont won places in the top 10 in the per-capita funding list.
 
Massachusetts is home to the most life sciences patents issued per 100,000 at 16 patents. New Jersey and California placed second and third, respectively, with 9 patents versus 8 patents per 100,000 patents issued.
 
Over the past five years, private investment in Massachusetts-based life sciences companies has ballooned by 66 percent. Biotechnology companies won 72 percent of venture capital funding in 2007, according to the report.
 
The Massachusetts life sciences work force is now up to 77,000 workers. The number of life sciences workers grew by 8 percent between 2001 and 2006, compared to a statewide work force rate that shrunk by 2.5 percent over the same period, according to the report.
 
State officials plan to unveil the 90-page report, co-sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, at the BIO 2008 conference in San Diego this week.


California topped the charts in terms of the most overall NIH dollars, ringing in at $3.1 billion in 2006, compared with $2.2 billion in Massachusetts. And California leads the nation in the number of clinical trials by state at 12 percent of the national total. Massachusetts rings in at No. 9 with 7 percent of the national total. Texas and New York ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.