Washington Editor

A week before BIO brought its annual CEO & Investor Conference back to the Big Apple, the New York Biotechnology Association submitted a proposal to encourage state leaders to help New York remain competitive on the biotech landscape.

The recruitment and retention initiative, which was sent to state legislators in Albany, stems in part from other states' recent pushes for government funding to attract and retain industry players. NYBA's proposal is meant to spur a State of New York answer to the biotech bidding war.

"It's necessary for New York to take a big, bold step at this point," Karin Duncker, NYBA's executive director, told BioWorld Today. "The competition to recruit and retain biotech jobs and companies is fierce and getting fiercer."

She noted that California's Proposition 71, which was passed to provide stem cell companies in that state with $3 billion during 10 years, has set a high-water mark for state government funding for the industry. Other state financing initiatives also have sprung up in New Jersey, where backing also is tied to stem cell research, as well as in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maryland and elsewhere.

In its submission to the state government, NYBA made it clear that New York faces the prospect of losing scientists and biotech companies to other areas. And Duncker said that New York's legislators are increasingly aware of government-backed financing efforts in other states, and she hopes the issue surfaces during current agenda-setting activities as the lawmakers move into session.

"If the competition is making investments of $375 million to $3 billion," said NYBA's proposal, "then New York needs to do the same, on the same scale."

The state already offers biotech-related tax credits for investors and employers, incentives for which NYBA fought. Going forward, NYBA will push to establish an investment fund, on the magnitude of $100 million or more, from which the state would direct its assets. Duncker added that New York should pour marketing dollars into a campaign to portray itself as "a global center for biotech." To that end, NYBA already is promoting a tag line, "The Cures Start Here," to boost awareness of its biotech cluster.

NYBA's push is not aimed at stem cell-focused research funding alone, but rather a broad base of state-backed financial support.

"We're asking to not just put the money into research and academia," Duncker said, "but actually putting the money into companies, making a decision that the companies are important. We need to help them grow and stay here."

She added that a biotech community already exists in New York, where last year companies received FDA approvals for potentially blockbuster drugs: Erbitux (cetuximab, from ImClone Systems Inc.), Tarceva (erlotinib, from OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc.) and Macugen (pegaptanib sodium, from Eyetech Inc.).

"New York has always been a leader in biomedical research," Duncker said. "I think a follow-on step to [the three approvals] is to play off those success stories of the industry here and make this a logical spot in the mind of an investor or venture capitalist as to where to put a biotech company."

The state's chief biotech advocate, NYBA's membership includes more than 250 bioscience companies, research institutions and related professional services. In a month, the organization will hold its annual meeting in New York City, where, among other things, the topic of state-backed economic development activities will be discussed.