During their campaigns for governor and mayor of the capital city, respectively, Don Carcieri and David Cicilline floated the idea of developing biotech parks. Carcieri thinks that Quonset Point/Davisville might make a good home for one, while Cicilline suggests that Providence – perhaps in the Allens Avenue area, near Rhode Island Hospital — would make sense.
We think both men are on to something and we encourage them to move aggressively to determine the viability of both projects.
While at first glance, it might appear that the projects would directly compete with one another, given the fair amount of activity within the biotech sector, it is reasonable to believe that small biotech parks could emerge in more than one location in Rhode Island.
Carcieri and Cicilline should be in close contact with the state’s Slater Center for Biomedical Technology, a state-financed incubator established in 1997 that has spawned several biotech firms. The center has both formal and informal links to Brown University, Lifespan, Care New England, Roger Williams Medical Center and the University of Rhode Island.
In addition to the work of the Slater Center, there are other examples that illustrate Rhode Island’s capacity for becoming a breeding ground for biotech. Companies like Amgen and Wyeth in West Greenwich have expanded dramatically in recent years.
And this week, for example, we report that San Diego-based Exten Industries, Inc., is moving its corporate headquarters here. Exten is the parent of MultiCell Technologies, a Warwick developer of liver cell-based products that operates out of a 10,000-square-foot laboratory on Metro Center Boulevard.
Exten has obviously been pleased with its foray into Rhode Island.
“We find that the hub of our activities and future growth is now in Rhode Island,” said Jerry Newmin, Exten’s chairman and CEO. “MultiCell is the driving force of our current operations and houses our scientific and product manufacturing activities.”
Such comments illustrate that in the biotech sector, Rhode Island has an opportunity to spur real economic development.
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