As we head into another budget cycle here in Ontario, there has been a flood of news showing that other jurisdictions are investing heavily in recruitment and stimulus for biotech companies. Each one of these investments raises the bar for what has to be done in Ontario to build our own companies and capitalize effectively on our R&D resource base:
- Close to home, Quebec’s recently-announced $122 million Biopharmaceutical Strategy is expected to match Ontario’s OTEC tax holiday (not so useful for biotech) and adds $30 million for R&D credit monetization (fantastically useful for biotech).
- Across the border in the U.S., things have been even busier. The Senate version of the health care reform bill includes the famous (/infamous) 12-year exclusivity period for biologics, but according to a BioWorld article the bill also includes “a therapeutic discovery project tax credit.” Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) also reportedly offered a measure that would create a translational science grant program through the National Institutes of Health, called the Cures Acceleration Network, and that would aid in expediting the FDA review.
- Add to the federal stimulus an array of state-level initiatives:
- Indiana has launched a $58 million fund that includes Lilly Ventures as part of the team;
- Arizona is opening a biotech incubator in a region where development is anchored by Covance; and
- Missouri’s Governor was at the state’s life sciences summit pushing for legislation to direct “tens of millions” to support biotech commercialization.
- Even the traditional U.S. biotech hotbeds are not standing still: North Carolina’s $250 million innovation fund is almost up and running, with an RFP out for a fund manager. (h/t @GenomicsLawyer)
- And in case you still think we can afford to rest on the laurels of the OETF and OVCF, take a look at John McCulloch’s post on the MaRS blog about his trip to the Suzhou New District in China, which has already incubated NASDAQ-listed solar power company Canadian Solar.
Image from User:Bdk on WikiMedia under the GNU Free Documentation License.
