2017/10/20（金）
Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts: a Great Location for Healthcare Startups
Elizabeth Steele, Senior Director, Economic Development & Global Affairs, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council
In the Boston/Cambridge area, whose strength has historically been in biotechnology, 18 of the top 20 biggest global pharmaceutical companies are located. The three best features of this area are "a high educational level," "good access to capital" and "support from the state government." The evidence for these features lies in the fact that employment in this field has increased by 28% and the total area of laboratories has increased by 56% in the last decade. With regard to funding, the amount of National Institute of Health (NIH) grants in this area is the second largest behind the State of California, while the amount per capita is the largest. The amount of venture capital investment has been increasing every year, reaching $3.3 billion in 2016. With the help of these funds, there are as many as 1,700 ongoing drug discovery pipeline projects, mainly on cancer research.
Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio), which supports the biotechnology industry in Massachusetts, was founded in 1986 as a private nonprofit organization by just six member companies. It has now grown to an organization of more than 1,000 member companies. Mass Bio organizes forums for its members to provide them with information on industry trends and emerging technologies, as well as regular information sharing events. It also offers joint purchasing programs; promotes, as Team Massachusetts, public relations activities and international interchange; continues lobbying the government; and helps the startups. In its entrepreneur mentorship program, MassCONNECT, teams of pharmaceutical experts, who serve as mentors, and entrepreneurs provide candidate startups with mentoring services as well as opportunities for them to match up with investors. Some graduates of this program have established promising startups.
As explained above, with a cluster of outstanding researchers and an excellent investment environment, the Boston/Cambridge area is optimal for entrepreneurs to new and growing startups.
[Speaker Profile]
Elizabeth is the Director of Economic Development & Global Affairs. Previously, she was MassBio's Director of Events where she planned and oversaw all Signature Events for the organization. Before joining MassBio, Elizabeth spent five years at the Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment, where she managed foreign direct investment for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and was a main organizer of Governor Patrick's Innovation Economy Missions to Israel, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. Elizabeth also worked at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver where she provided large scale transportation management.
Elizabeth is a graduate of Clemson University with a BS in Political Science. She also holds an MPA and MS in Political Science with an International Relations specialization from Suffolk University.
MassBIO website: https://www.massbio.org/
