Bioscience on Here and Now

August 02, 2006

Mary Ann Guerra, Chief Operating Officer at the Translational Genomics Research Institute and Jon McGarity, President and C-E-O of the Arizona Bio-Industry Association discussed bioscience in Arizona on Here and Now. (Photo Credit: John Tynan)

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( Phoenix, AZ ) You've heard the terms "bioscience" or "biotechnology" but do you know what they really mean? Why are local governments, philanthropists and others investing tens of millions of dollars in "bioscience" research? Why is such research so important to our quality of life and local economy? Can Arizona catch up to other places that are established leaders in the field? Find out as KJZZ's Here and Now explores the issue of bioscience. Learn what it is, what kinds of research is being conducted, and why it's important to Arizona.

Bioscience

Bioscience is any of the branches of natural science dealing with the structure and behavior of living organisms. The bioscience industry cluster is comprised of five segments: agricultural feedstock and chemicals; drugs and pharmaceuticals; medical devices and instruments; hospitals and laboratories; and research and testing

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a term used to describe a set of tools developed since the mid-1970s to deal with cells and other objects derived from complex organisms in tissue culture. Activities include isolation, manipulation, and transfer of genetic material between cells; precise analysis of nucleic acids and proteins; and production of substances such as reagents that allow extraordinarily specific and quantitative measurements to be made in the presence of monoclonal antibodies. The tools have application in a wide variety of biological endeavors ranging from diagnostics and therapeutics to pathology, plant and animal breeding, environmental remediation, and industrial production of various products.

Sources: Flinn Foundation, Arizona BioIndustry Association

Biotechnology in Arizona

Arizona has been the home to national and international innovations in the biosciences. Most recently, University of Arizona researchers participated in an international effort that successfully mapped the rice genome. TGen, in its brief tenure, has accounted for five significant genomic discoveries. Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City has one of the world's largest brain banks. While the state is perhaps best known for the development of the first artificial heart to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Jack Copeland, chief surgeon at University Medical Center) it has contributed substantially to the understanding of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and many types of cancer. At present, nanotechnology developed at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University is being used to develop flexible computer display screens on a $43.5 million grant from the Army.

In addition, there is a drive to take research innovations from the university to the marketplace. In the past two years, 19 biotech startups have formed from university research.

Source: Flinn Foundation

Arizona Investment in Bioscience

A ‘Bioscience Roadmap’ establishes the goal for Arizona's growth rate in National Institute of Health (NIH) research funding to be comparable to that of the top 10 states in the nation by 2007. That goal was accomplished in 2005, two years ahead of schedule. Arizona is 75 percent of the way to the 2007 Bioscience Roadmap target of garnering $214 million in NIH funding.
State legislative and executive branch investment of $440 million in research facilities, primarily in the biosciences, and additional state investments through Proposition 301 and the tobacco-tax initiative for bioscience research. Lawmakers and the executive branch appropriated $35 million in bioscience funding for the FY 2006-2007.
Attraction and location of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, which includes investments of nearly $100 million for start-up costs and for construction of a new downtown facility to house its researchers, and the spin-off a for-profit and a non-profit venture.
Plans underway to create a Phoenix Biomedical Campus, expand the state's medical school capacity, develop an additional research park near Arizona State University, and create a new biosciences park in Tucson anchored by an innovative drug institute, the Critical Path Institute (C-Path).
Universities have begun to align faculty and facility investments with Bioscience Roadmap actions, and each of the near-term bioscience initiative program plans was completed identifying needed investments in faculty, equipment, support and services.
Eleven bioscience startup companies were spun off university research in 2004, a significant increase from the two companies spun off research in 2002.
Venture capital investments in the biosciences in Arizona have increased from $10 million in 2000 to nearly $20 million in 2004.

Source: Flinn Foundation

Bioscience Employment

There are 71,876 jobs in Arizona's bioscience sector. Ninety-three percent of those jobs are in hospitals and laboratories. The 2003 "Battelle Bioscience Workforce Needs Assessment" found that in the next two years new hires are expected to be 20 percent of current employment levels.

Average salary of employee in biosciences: $43,359
Average salary of private sector: $34,043

(The figure for the biosciences includes wages of part-time hospital employees, and thus would be higher based on full-time data.)

Source: Arizona Department of Economic Security and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003-2004 data.

The Top-10 Bioscience Employers

While there is no definitive list, the following pieces together Arizona's 10 largest bioscience-related firms as determined by the number of Arizona based employees. These figures are based on publicly available data.