A message from Eddie Pauline, President & CEO
Photo: Forge Biologics, an OLS member investor
I am just getting back from a couple of days in Washington, D.C., where I spent time meeting with members of Ohio’s congressional delegation as part of a biotech “fly-in” with the Council of State Bioscience Associations. They are thinking about how to advance Ohio’s innovation economy, and, of course, that is where our industry excels. But my conversations in D.C. made me think about the targeted investments that will be necessary if we are to achieve the goals our state has set for itself.
Some of that work is already underway. In case you missed it, Ohio plans to expand upon the three Innovation Districts already underway in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati by investing another $150 million in additional innovation districts in smaller cities around the state.
Investing in innovation is smart public policy, but I would argue that we need more targeted investments in order to have the greatest impact. Obviously, my opinion is that focus should be the life sciences. But strong data supports that. The current districts in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati are not devoted to specific industries like cell and gene therapy or biotech manufacturing, but most of the anchor investors in those districts are healthcare research institutions. Those institutions are creating medical devices and cures for rare and chronic conditions. The base for this focus is already set. Imagine the impact if we focused this next iteration of innovation investment in our smaller cities – places like Akron, Toledo, Youngstown, and Dayton – on gene and cell therapy or medical device innovation. The effect could be enormous.
We know Ohio’s life sciences ecosystem is getting stronger. Consider a recent report from the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), which called out ten cell and gene therapy hubs around the country. Most were on the coasts, as you might imagine – Boston, Seattle, and San Francisco. But in the middle of the country, the report called out just three cities: Chicago, Houston, and Columbus, Ohio.
The report analyzed gaps in the workforce for this important industry, and when I read ARM’s assessment, I thought about the potential we have here. Cell and gene therapy researchers are creating incredibly promising treatments for cancers, rare diseases, and other health conditions – yet they need to be able to develop those treatments at scale, manufacture them, and get them to the hospitals and clinics where they can help patients.
Ohio is already among the country’s strongest cell and gene therapy research states, as the report showed. But Ohio also has a long history of excelling in manufacturing and logistics – two things this industry desperately needs. We are well-positioned to make Ohio an economic destination for the life sciences industry – we just need to seize our opportunity. And that requires focusing our investments.
We have a history of investing in innovation and growth, broadly.
But I can’t help but think: What dramatic impact could this new funding have to position each and every corner of Ohio as a life sciences hub? We know this industry brings high-paying jobs and creates treatments that save lives around the world. But we still need better policies, more capital investment, and advanced training for our life sciences workforce in order for this industry to become one of our state’s strongest. Those shifts will help this industry not only bring the types of economic benefits other life sciences hubs enjoy but allow it to make the types of medical and scientific breakthroughs that improve and save lives.
My peers across the country are talking about what their states have done. Just this year, Arizona lawmakers have considered investing another $200 million in their state’s health innovation “trust fund” – a fund that has already received some $25 billion in public and private investment over the last 20 years. Nebraska is considering a $25 million investment in wet-lab and bioscience R&D space in Omaha. Virginia has announced $66 million in funding to expand infrastructure around biotech, the life sciences, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
States all over the country are realizing that to create sustainable economies for their futures, they must invest in the health and life sciences. Ohio has the opportunity to not only join them but be a leader among them.
Let’s not let that opportunity go to waste.
Eddie Pauline
President & CEO
Ohio Life Sciences