The Maryland Biotechnology Center opened its Baltimore office at the World Trade Center last week. The Center, part of the Governor's BioMaryland 2020 plan, serves as a sort of "one stop" portal to the state's vast array of programs, resources and information on the burgeoning bioscience industry. The Center is co-located at the Shady Grove Innovation Center in Rockville.
"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," says Governor Martin 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."
Using $5 million in state funds, the Center will help fledgling biotech companies he Center will include information and guidance on business strategies and development, access to capital, technology transfer and commercialization, grants, workforce development and training and federal resources. .
Gov. O'Malley announced the formation of the new biotech center in May, calling it an essential component to the state's decade long, $1.3 billion strategy to strengthen and grow the $29 billion biosciences sector. The state will alsoadd $18 million in funding for the biotechnology tax credit taking it from $6 million to $24 million and increasing funding for the Maryland Venture Fund to $24 million from $2 million.
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.
From 2002 to 2007, Maryland's university bioscience research grew 44 percent from $877,000 to $1.3 billion. Today, the state's bioscience research complex is estimated to receive some $8 billion in R & D expenditures annually, putting it just behind California and New Jersey, in third place.
Source: Gov. Martin O'Malley, DBED
Writer: Walaika Haskins