Bioscience Industry Booming In WV

WAJR-AM

Morgantown, W.Va.

West Virginia is quickly becoming one of the best places to do business for those in the bioscience sector. A new West Virginia University study says the state’s bioscience industry is witnessing a significant shift away from chemicals and agriculture to biopharmaceuticals and research. The report says the industry has a private sector economic impact, direct and indirect, of $7.2 billion and supports more than 21,000 jobs in the state.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) CEO Billy Tauzin says that means West Virginia is a great place to do business.

"State government is very favorable to this type of economic development," said Tauzin. "The academic institutions are working hand in glove to help invest in the bioscience area in the state and there's a general very positive, pro-business policy in the state. That's important, not only for the job growth, but for all the students coming out of the universities learning biosciences. They're likely to have a job at home and that's all good news."

Tauzin says West Virginia is the seventh fastest growing state in the nation when it comes to bioscience jobs. The economic output is fifth in the nation over the past ten years. And these are not bad jobs, the salary for the average bioscience job is $55,220 compared to statewide average earnings of $37,894, according to the study.

The private sector economic impact does not include research initiatives at West Virginia University (WVU), Marshall University and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. Those institutions combined for another $200 million in economic impact.

According to the report, West Virginia has numerous efforts underway as well as new initiatives that will create an environment that is more attractive and welcoming to the bioscience sector. The study, entitled “An Economic Profile of the Bioscience Industry in West Virginia,” is authored by Graduate Research Assistant Anthony Gregory and Tom Witt, director, Bureau of Business and Economic Research for the WVU College of Business and Economics. The report was commissioned by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

The study highlights specific initiatives in West Virginia that will help the bioscience industry grow:WVU is expanding the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center; creating new space in the Health Sciences Center Library; and the Blanchette Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute is projected to open in 2008.

At Marshall, the Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Sciences Center opened in 2006 and the MU Biotechnology Development Center will provide support for the commercialization of scientific concepts.Marshall and WVU are in the process of building research parks to support growing bioscience initiatives.The study also notes that the Chemical Alliance Zone Biotechnology and Allied Sciences Incubator Center in South Charleston provide laboratory and office space and business services to bioscience companies.

A full copy of the study is available on line through WVU’s College of Business and Economics at www.bber.wvu.edu.