Indiana touted as Life Sciences Cluster by National Think Tank
Most people know Hollywood is home to the film industry and Silicon Valley is still considered by many the place to be for information technology. The Brookings Institution is recognizing Indiana as a center for life sciences. The Washington-based think tank says the state is a model regional cluster, anchored by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), research institutions including Indiana and Purdue Universities, and leading orthopedic device manufacturers in the Warsaw area.
A Brookings report, "The New Cluster Moment," says Indiana has
developed a concentration of 50 companies and more than 8,000 skilled
workers specialized in sophisticated biopharma services such as contract
research, contract manufacturing, and logistics. "Spurred by the
BioCrossroads cluster initiative, the state outpaced national
life sciences job growth, at 17.2 percent versus 15.8 percent from 2001
to 2008, to employ a total of more than 52,800 workers."
BioCrossroads President and Chief Executive Officer David Johnson says
Indiana has been strong in life sciences, but is just now receiving some
national attention. He says about 10 years ago state officials realized
it was important to foster smaller, more entrepreneurial companies to
support large firms in the region.
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Indiana is experiencing job growth in the Life Sciences sector at a time
when employment in most areas is declining. Johnson credits the
strength of the life sciences cluster statewide, from Baxter Healthcare
(NYSE:BAX) in Bloomington, Lilly in Indianapolis, to Zimmer Holdings
Inc. in Warsaw.
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Johnson says even though the sector is performing well, some of the
larger companies have decided to sell properties. He points to Lilly as
an example, which sold its Greenfield facility to Covance Inc. (NYSE:
CVD) in 2009. The 20,000-square-foot building is dedicated to
pre-clinical research and development. The facility is able to store a
wide-range of specimens, including plasma, serum, whole blood, DNA,
PBMC, and tissue. Johnson says people who were employed by Lilly went to
work for Covance. Later, Covance starting hiring more workers to help
build that facility as a contract research operation, whose main client
is Lilly. Johnson says "this allows others to buy into them, share risk
with them, pay for them, in essence bring more employment to them."
Johnson believes there is strength in numbers. It is unlikely a new life
sciences company would find success without the resources and a skilled
labor force that are available in a regional cluster. He says it is
important to have a concentration of people who have experience dealing
with sterilization and U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations. He
says the scientific risk of developing new drugs and medical devices is
very high.
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Brookings is recognizing efforts by BioCrossroads in helping maximize
the growth of the life sciences cluster, such as getting startup firms
access to capital and encouraging industry connectivity. The
organization has raised about $250 million for investments in new
enterprises.
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Johnson recently attended a conference on Regional Innovation Clusters
in Washington D.C. with John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D., chairman, president
and CEO of Eli Lilly. They argued for federal policies that further
encourage regional clusters as a way to renew the nation's economy.
Johnson says "A lot of work needs to be done. There are no perfect
answers, but there are communities across the country that our
policymakers in Washington could learn from."