Governor O'Malley Opens Maryland's New Biotechnology Center's Baltimore Office
"One-stop" center is co-located in World Trade Center, Shady Grove innovation center in Rockville
BALTIMORE, MD (September 15, 2009) –Governor Martin O’Malley today joined Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Christian S. Johansson, Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board members and elected officials and officially opened the Maryland Biotechnology Center’s Baltimore office at the World Trade Center. The Center, part of the Governor’s BioMaryland 2020 plan, serves as a “one stop” portal of Maryland’s vast array of programs, resources and information to grow the bioscience industry. The Center is co-located at the Shady Grove Innovation Center in Rockville, with an online presence at www.marylandbiocenter.org.
“The Maryland Biotechnology Center will bring together, for the first time, all of Maryland’s unparalleled bioscience assets and resources under one umbrella, making it easier for companies to access our programs and help commercialize some of the great technology coming out of our labs,” said Governor O’Malley. “The Center is the first key deliverable of our BioMaryland 2020 plan, and I look forward to working with the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board members to move forward on other recommendations that will keep Maryland at the forefront of this life-saving industry.”
“What remains striking about Maryland is its still enormous untapped potential in the biosciences,” said H. Thomas Watkins, Chair of the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board and President and CEO of Human Genome Sciences, Inc. “The Maryland Biotechnology Center is designed to help accelerate the rate at which Maryland's bioscience research strengths translate into viable start-ups, commercialized products, and more mature bioscience companies that are able to grow and sustain themselves profitably over the long term.”
“The opening of the Maryland Biotechnology Center in Baltimore marks a significant step forward for Governor O’Malley and the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board to grow Maryland’s vital biotechnology industry,” said Donald C. Fry, President and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee. “I look forward to our organization partnering with the Maryland Biotechnology Center and working with the center staff and industry leaders to build on the unparalleled bioscience assets in Baltimore and our state.”
The Maryland Biotechnology Center, part of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, is charged with coordinating and consolidating a host of State, university and private sector bio initiatives and resources to make it easier for bio companies to access. The Center will include information and guidance on business strategy and development, access to capital, technology transfer and commercialization, grants, workforce development and training and federal resources.
In addition to developing the Maryland Biotechnology Center, BioMaryland 2020 recommends the creation of a BioEntrepreneur Resource Program to provide one-stop assistance to new and emerging companies; establishing the Maryland Life Science Venture Capital Trust to advance investment in Maryland’s bioscience companies and strengthening and advancing BioMaryland – Maryland’s bioscience brand.
Since taking office, Governor O’Malley has spearheaded a number of strategic investments in Maryland’s bioscience industry. In addition to creating the LSAB, he launched the BIO 2020 initiative, a 10-year, $1.3 billion strategy for moving Maryland’s bioscience industry forward. Governor O’Malley has been instrumental in securing funding for bio initiatives, including $59 million over three years for Maryland’s Stem Cell Research Fund, $18 million over three years for the popular Biotechnology Tax Credit and $9 million for nanobiotechnology research grants. Under Governor O’Malley’s leadership, Maryland’s major research parks, including the University of Maryland, Baltimore BioPark, the Science +Technology Park in East Baltimore and the Montgomery College/Germantown Science and Technology Park, have undergone significant expansion. In addition, the State has attracted, or assisted in launch or expansion, of more than 50 bioscience companies in the last two years, including Aeras Global, OpGen, Life Technologies, Biomere, Akonni Biosystems and Emergent Biosolutions, creating or retaining an estimated 1,800 jobs.
Home to more than 400 bioscience companies and 50 research-intense federal institutes and centers, Maryland is well positioned in the global bioscience industry and has been recognized by the Milken Institute as one of the top tier states highly specialized in overall bioscience development. Since the early 1990s, Maryland has focused on bioscience development and was one of the first states to develop a strategic plan for the industry.
Over the years, strategic investments have helped Maryland’s bioscience industry grow into one of the world’s largest bioscience research complexes, known for its wealth of federal facilities, institutions of higher learning and concentration of highly trained bioscience researchers. From 2001 to 2006, the State’s bioscience industry grew by nearly 15 percent, adding 3,200 jobs to top more than 25,000 bioscience jobs in Maryland. In addition, from 2002 to 2007, Maryland’s university bioscience research soared, growing 44 percent from $877,000 to $1.3 billion. Today, Maryland’s bioscience research complex is estimated to receive nearly $8 billion in R & D expenditures annually, ranking third only to California and New Jersey.
