Filter looks at the day's top technology news through snapshots and analysis of what the world's media outlets are covering. Washingtonpost.com's new Mon.-Fri. feature is penned by technology reporter Cynthia L. Webb. If a technology story breaks, a company falters or triumphs, or there's a new trend in technology, Filter wants you to know about it.
By Robert MacMillan washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 1, 2004; 9:38 AM
Biotechnology -- they say it's a growth industry, but the proof is in the petri dish.
The dish in this case is San Francisco's Moscone Center, where about 20,000 people are expected to attend the Biotechnology Industry Organization's BIO 2004 convention. The conference, scheduled to begin on Sunday, will turn the South of Market district into a "mass networking-fest for executives, analysts, researchers and job-seekers, as well as government officials trying to lure more of the growing industry away from its Bay Area birthplace to other states or nations," The San Francisco Chronicle reported this morning.
On the menu at this year's Bio gathering, the Chronicle said, is a "staggering array of workshops" on stem cell studies, anti-cancer projects that rely on the human genome and other topics. It's also a business forum where executives "can also get practical business tips on financing, dealing with government regulatory agencies, fending off shareholder suits, and manufacturing the often fragile molecules that make up many biotech drugs."
Last year's BIO conference featured President Bush, the Los Angeles Times noted. This year, however, attendants will have to cruise down the food chain a couple of notches and make do with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who plans to spend time persuading biotech execs that the Sunshine State would make a great locale for biotech businesses.
• The San Francisco Chronicle: Biotech meeting to attract thousands
And that is what's really afoot here, the Los Angeles Times reported: How to coax the biotech industry away from its Bay Area birthplace and into new, receptive environments. "The biotech business tends to cluster in places with a certain mix of ingredients: top-flight academic centers, access to venture funding and an entrepreneurial culture. Many cities have one or two of those elements, experts say, but not all three."
Here's the big problem, though, as the L.A. Times also noted -- there's not enough biotech to spread around. "[T]he industry employs just 200,000 people in all, making it too small to support widespread growth. And though biotech employment could grow by 15% this year, many of the 30,000 new jobs will probably be at existing companies in such established biotech hubs as San Diego, Boston and San Francisco. California is the largest biotech state, with about 450 firms, more than double the total of second-ranked Massachusetts. One-third of the country's biotech workers live here. 'My feeling is that if you don't have a biotech industry already, it isn't going to happen,' said Scott Morrison, an analyst with Ernst & Young in Palo Alto."
The L.A. Times said that's why other states are producing all sorts of financial mutations to suit biotech companies' needs: "In February, Incyte Corp., a company working on drugs for AIDS, closed its Palo Alto headquarters and shifted operations to Wilmington, Del., where it now employs 180. Wisconsin officials say Mentor Corp. of Santa Barbara has agreed to build a factory in the state, where the company will produce an anti- wrinkle drug similar to Botox. Next week, Wisconsin Commerce Secretary Cory L. Nettles will be in search of more deals. 'We think San Francisco is a terrific venue to show the world the opportunities in Wisconsin,' he said."
And more: "Indeed, a report this month on California's biotech industry reads like a sales brochure for Wisconsin and other rival states. The report, by the Monitor Group of Cambridge, Mass., lists incentives offered by 16 states and four countries that are generally unavailable in California. More than 100 cities and regions around the world consider biotech development a priority, according to the report, which was commissioned by [Calif. Gov Arnold] Schwarzenegger's predecessor, Gray Davis." Schwarzenegger still hasn't answered his invitation to the Bio conference, the Chronicle noted.
• The Los Angeles Times: In Land of Biotech Giants, Visitors Seek a Bit of Turf (Registration required)
Back Bay Brawl
There's a conundrum along the Charles River as biotech firms react to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's decision to allow public employees to get their drugs from Canada. This isn't a popular idea with the locally based biotechs, The Washington Post reported today. "In July, Boston, which rivals San Francisco as the world capital of the biotechnology industry, is set to become the largest and most influential city to make it easier for public employees to buy imported pharmaceuticals. The effort is part of a nationwide movement that its architects say will make medicine more affordable for Americans, who pay among the highest drug prices in the world," The Post reported. "But the proposals have drawn the ire of biotechnology executives. They say importing cheaper drugs will eat into profit and divert funding from fledgling drug companies. 'Some people here seem to think they can have it both ways. Our view is that they can't,' said Mark Trusheim, interim president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC)."
Massachusetts has 280 biotech companies, accounting for one-sixth of the public companies in the state and almost a fifth of venture-capital investment in the state, the Post reported. And here's their beef with imports: "Industry experts say the investment capital that fuels biotech companies' research and development is likely to dwindle if the importation movement accelerates. Because the goal of importation is to drive down prices paid by Americans for pharmaceuticals, they say, such plans cut into the potential profit of a successful new drug." It will be interesting to see how many Massachusetts biotech execs will be hangin' with Jeb Bush in San Fran next week; it is warmer in Florida, after all... Then again, can Florida pony up the sort of academic brain trust to rival Harvard, MIT and the other powerhouse schools that currently feed the Massachusetts biotech industry?
• The Washington Post: Importing a Fight With Boston's Biotech Industry (Registration required)
So Clean, So Green!
Whether California's biotech experiment is getting moldy is up for debate. What seems clearer, The San Francisco Chronicle reported in a separate article today, is the state's reliance on the growing industry of "clean technology, products and services that drastically reduce or eliminate environmental impact. Clean technology includes a variety of products and technologies, such as renewable energy, fuel cells, water purification and conservation, waste recycling and processing, and the reuse of materials."
