BOSTON – Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday unveiled a 10-year “Massachusetts Life Science Strategy” that aims to make the state the global leader in life sciences.
The plan will enlist industry, colleges and universities and teaching hospitals in a public-private partnership that will spur research, boost investment, create new jobs and produce new therapies, Patrick said in a speech yesterday afternoon at the BIO International Convention 2007. (The event, co-hosted by the New England Council and the Biotechnology Industry Organization, runs through today at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. READ MORE)
The initiative includes a $1 billion investment package the governor said would help “ensure the state’s ability to support life science progress from the idea stage through the production stage.” It includes a competitive grant program intended to help bridge the gaps created by cuts in federal research funding; money to create a Massachusetts Stem-Cell Bank, with new cell lines for public and private research; establish fellowships “to attract and retain the rising stars of life sciences research”; and establish Life Science Innovation Centers to streamline technology transfer, minimize development time and maximize funding opportunities.
It also includes legislation to strengthen the Massachusetts Life Science Center and expand its mission to include science and economic development, strategic investment “at critical stages of the development cycle” and collaboration with the private sector “to create innovation infrastructure.”
The announcement is “an important signal that the opportunities to do cutting-edge research in this state are expanding,” said Nobel Laureate Craig Mello, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “Support of this type from the government, academic institutions and society allows us to further advance science and to conduct important basic, clinical and translational research.”
