Found at: http://www.competitiveness.org/article/articleprint/156/-1/8/
Washington State's governor, Gary Locke, is currently promoting Bio21, a plan that would pledge $250 million to the further development of their biotech industry. Locke hopes to have matching funds from private donors like Microsoft and Amgen, but has yet to reveal all sources of funding.
Washington currently is amongst the top ten biotech states in the US, but it only ranks 46th in the amount of government funds devoted towards research. This could be a major problem if Washington hopes to compete for a piece of the enormous projected growth of the biotech industry. Nationwide, healthcare is expected to reach one fifth of the country's gross economic output. Biotech, however, can be risky business in terms of profit.
Industry statistics reveal that few biotech companies ever make a profit and it sometimes takes $800 million or more to develop a drug that stands roughly a 20% chance of being successfully tested on people and earning FDA approval. These numbers are apparently not enough to deter Locke from going forth with Bio21. Some of that pressure has to do with the possible payoffs in job creation and wages, with the average biotech employee earning $68,000 annually. There is also a great deal of pressure from Washington's existing biotech firms. ZymoGenetic in Seattle isn't shy about reminding the governor that other states are willing to offer attractive economic incentives to leave Washington which would be a major blow to the state's economy and could jeopardize future growth.
With pressure coming from multiple sources, it is clear that the governor must act soon and definitively on this issue. Leroy Hood, president of the Institute for Systems Biology, claims he is waiting for the state to develop a clear vision in the biotech field.
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The full article can be found in the Seattle Times