BIO 2007: Boston - It’s All About the Benjamins for Biotech

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Throughout the first full day of the BIO 2007 International Biotech Conference (Boston, May 6-9), one topic prevailed above all others. Money – how to get it, where to invest it and how much was available. Boston native son Benjamin Franklin would be right at home amidst the entrepreneurial spirit that is filling the halls of the Boston Conference Center and numerous off-site gatherings. Although he was born over 300 years ago in 1706 and was known as an inventor, scientist, activist and statesman, Ben also understood the importance of finance as the key element of growth for any venture. The U.S. hundred dollar bill portrays his famous face for many reasons, possibly including a nod to his key role in landing major dollars from France to grow our nascent nation. It would not be hard to imagine his joy and understanding over the global nature of this week’s wheeling and dealing.

Within our own shores it is a furious race to land the industry’s capital projects that could provide the long-term investment necessary to deliver a community or even an entire region to economic salvation. Cities, county and state governments and economic development agencies brazenly court every major laboratory or bio manufacturing plant looking for a site. Ultimately a win-win situation for all involved, the companies enjoy a vast array of lucrative incentives, including free land, infrastructure and favorable tax breaks. Not to mention the great press when announcing the project. Not all of the effort is expended on grassroot facilities, for in the case of major expansion projects there always remains the threat of another state snatching the Holy Grail of fiscal solvency away.

Just outside of Boston, the town of Waltham is rejoicing as Swiss drug maker AstraZeneca PLC officially began construction Monday on a $100 million expansion of its research-and-development facility. Employing over 450, the site has become one of the company’s six major global research sites and Waltham intends to keep it that way for years to come. A little further to the north, tiny Devens, Massachusetts has won the multi-state site selection race and now is experiencing a economic rebirth as construction begins on the colossal Bristol-Myers Squibb large-scale multi-product bulk biologics manufacturing plant, with the possible total investment topping $1 billion. Rising on the site of the shuttered Fort Devens U.S. Army base, when operational, the site will require an initial workforce of approximately 350 employees. The facility will be modular in design in order to accommodate future expansion, which would lead to a total of approximately 550 employees at the site.

Another look at the East, in this case, the Far East as in South Korea, Celltrion is in the midst of a three-phased $50 million expansion of its biopharmaceutical plant at the new technology park in Songdo New City. The site is close to Seoul (the capital) and the newly opened Incheon International Airport. The plant is being used for the production of multiple vaccines (anthrax, small pox and meningitis B), as well as recombinant therapeutic proteins. Speaking from Celltrion’s booth on the convention floor, Do-Hee Kim, Team Manager/Planning and HR Team, said, “We will have this complete in 2009. Then we have the option of doubling our operations on land adjacent to our new plant.” When asked about the company’s venture with Vaxgen (South San Francisco, California), Mr. Kim explained, “We are not with them now, but we were involved in building the pilot-scale facility there [California] several years ago, but the rise of Asia in today’s marketplace made South Korea the logical place to grow. It is always where we planned to grow.”

The San Francisco plant was used to train many of the Korean staff for the Incheon site. Vaxgen was poised to ride the wave of stellar funding with a massive U.S. government order worth $880 million for 75 million doses of its anthrax vaccine (recombinant antigen protein Rpa102). That company is now slumped on the beach following the loss of the lucrative Bioshield contract, which was cancelled in December 2006 because of the company’s failure to meet deadlines for clinical trials. Last month, Vaxgen received an $11 million contract settlement from the government, releasing them from liability and to seek third-party funding. Vaxgen is not exhibiting at this year’s conference.

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