Opinion 2: Life Science Funding Needed Now
We all agree that the life sciences industry holds tremendous potential for our future. But other states and nations are nipping at our heels. The commonwealth's competitive advantage is diminishing as businesses and talent are increasingly attracted to other locations. At the BIO 2007 convention in Boston last spring, dozens of regions aggressively targeted our companies and our talent. As Governor Patrick has suggested, these regions are luring away our best and brightest, and, want what we have.
Other states have invested more money in funding research and development. stem cell facilities and research. The current H-1B visa shortage also threatens our ability to attract the world's best and brightest.
Incentives To Stay
That is why the Massachusetts Life Science Initiative legislation is so important. The bill helps to expand tax incentives for Life Science companies doing business here in Massachusetts.
Benefits of the Life Sciences bill include new jobs, and the attraction and retention of the best scientists in the world, which maintains our research excellence through federal grants and patents and strengthens our investments in education and workforce training. Most importantly, we continue to strive to fund cures for lifesaving medical therapies and ultimately an enhanced standard of living throughout the entire world.
The Life Sciences bill will benefit the entire state. It will allow for advances in scientific research at hospitals and academic institutions, and it will also create new bio-manufacturing and scientific lab opportunities and technician jobs for people in all regions of the commonwealth.
We need to act now to ensure that the commonwealth maintains its preeminence in this field. By improving business incentives to attract and retain the best talent, the $1 billion Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative will enhance the flow of discoveries that lead to new products, jobs, economic growth and cures. As a result, companies will grow their operations in Massachusetts.
Our own University of Massachusetts Medical School proposes to establish the Massachusetts Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry, a comprehensive and extensively documented international cell database, as the first phase of a broader Massachusetts initiative. This web-based registry would provide Massachu-setts researchers and commercial entities, as well as the international biomedical research community, with access to critical information on cell lines to facilitate greater development of research and the commercialization of science.
The Central Massachusetts region has continued to grow our life science cluster and is recognized as the anchor to the burgeoning biomedical corridor between Worcester and Cambridge/Boston. The Governor and our Central Mass. Legislative caucus have been extremely forward, thinking in proposing and embracing this legislation, for which we in the life science industry are certainly grateful. The future for life sciences within the Worcester region is bright and the potential is boundless. Enacting this legislation ensures that we remain the best in the world.
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