Biotech Industry

Baltimore's biotechnology industry has made strides. Two biotech parks by the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland now anchor the east and west sides of the city. A few dozen biotech startups have made their home here. But Baltimore's nascent biotech industry doesn't yet have a breakout company — a darling of venture capitalists and Wall Street that has grown past the risky and unprofitable startup phase to achieve a steady stream of revenue and products in the pipeline.

Baltimore BioWorks is John Powers's third biotech company — and the one that he says he's most excited about. The 56-year-old Ellicott City doctor built a career in biotechnology, working for the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, and more recently as an entrepreneur and consultant. He already grew and sold two biotech companies in Maryland. He's a minority investor in his latest venture, Baltimore BioWorks, which is taking an unusual tack in the biotechnology sector.

The biotechnology industry in the United States appears to be heading toward a collision with most of the world over the regulation of genetically altered food products.The U.S. industry praises a recent U.S. government decision minimizing regulation, but the European Community is preparing a directive on "novel foods," the regulatory requirements for which could hamper exports of such items to the EC."I'm not aware of the EC proposal, but there is worry that this [regulatory issue] could be a trade weapon . . . . The politicizing of an issue [could be used]

A proposal to speed the approval of new prescription drugs has patient advocates and biotech firms — including many based in Maryland — hoping that Congress will deliver a rare dose of bipartisanship this year. Lawmakers are proposing a 6 percent increase in the fees that pharmaceutical firms pay the Food and Drug Administration to offset the cost of approving new drugs. If the measure is not signed into law by the end of September, the FDA would lose the ability to charge any fees and be forced to lay off 2,000 workers, significantly slowing review times.

The money men of HealthCare Investment Corp. work the Amtrak line, whizzing back and forth between Maryland's biotechnology corner in the Washington suburbs and Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston.Along the way these venture capitalists have staked hundreds of millions of dollars on the dreams of science and founded companies with breathtaking speed: Genetic Therapy Inc. in 1986, Molecular Oncology Inc. in 1988, MedImmune Inc. in 1988, and Pharmavene Inc. in 1990.That's just in Maryland. There are 20 others scattered along the path of the Metroliner, and by the end of this year they promise to start three more biotech companies in Maryland, including one in Baltimore, with another three due by 1995.

In a conference room in downtown Baltimore, F. Blix Winston compared the Food and Drug Administration to a "slow-moving bulldog. " "You don't want to get bitten," Winston, an expert on the federal regulation of medical devices, told a crowd of about 50 entrepreneurs and academics recently. "You don't want to tangle with the FDA," he warned. "The FDA has the power to come in and padlock a company's doors. " Winston's presentation was part of a new approach by Maryland economic development officials to promote the state's life sciences industry.

The teenagers filed into the Ellicott City laboratory, slapped on safety goggles, whipped out notebooks and peered expectantly at their instructor, who promptly delivered directions that sounded as if they were in a foreign language. Teacher Cindy Coffman tossed around technical terms - such as "GFP samples," "caustic reagents" and "isolated proteins" - like confetti, eventually declaring that something needed to be vortexed "right away!" And the dutiful group soon did, with barely so much as a quizzical glance.

Baltimore BioWorks is John Powers's third biotech company — and the one that he says he's most excited about. The 56-year-old Ellicott City doctor built a career in biotechnology, working for the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, and more recently as an entrepreneur and consultant. He already grew and sold two biotech companies in Maryland. He's a minority investor in his latest venture, Baltimore BioWorks, which is taking an unusual tack in the biotechnology sector.

In a sign the local biotech industry might be maturing, a Baltimore company has agreed to manufacture small quantities of an anti-cancer drug for a Virginia company.Collaborations have been rare among local biotech companies, but Cel-Sci Corp., a publicly traded biotech company in Alexandria, signed a deal with Chesapeake Biological Laboratories yesterday."There is starting to be enough of a critical mass here to support some collaborations," said Geert Kersten, Cel-Sci chief operating officer.

Fourteen Maryland biotechnology companies tapped nearly $6 million in new funding from investors who qualified for a state tax credit. The Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit is a state-mandated program that allows for a 50 percent tax break, up to $250,000, per investor in a qualified biotech company. To qualify, companies must be less than 12 years old, have headquarters in Maryland, employ fewer than 50 people and be state-certified as a biotechnology company. The tax credit is a central component of Gov. Martin O'Malley's BioMaryland 2020 plan, a 10-year, $1.3 billion strategy for growing the state's biotech industry.

Ken Malone and the board members of his startup biotech company gathered in a conference room at the University of Southern Mississippi last October to make a gut-wrenching decision. Ablitech Inc.'s funding was slowly drying up, and it couldn't find new sources in Mississippi. If the company stayed, it would wither away. The only option left for Ablitech, they decided, was for the fledgling company to move. "We called our shareholders together and said, 'Look, if we stay here, we're going to die,'" Malone recalled recently.

In a conference room in downtown Baltimore, F. Blix Winston compared the Food and Drug Administration to a "slow-moving bulldog. " "You don't want to get bitten," Winston, an expert on the federal regulation of medical devices, told a crowd of about 50 entrepreneurs and academics recently. "You don't want to tangle with the FDA," he warned. "The FDA has the power to come in and padlock a company's doors. " Winston's presentation was part of a new approach by Maryland economic development officials to promote the state's life sciences industry.

Baltimore's biotechnology industry has made strides. Two biotech parks by the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland now anchor the east and west sides of the city. A few dozen biotech startups have made their home here. But Baltimore's nascent biotech industry doesn't yet have a breakout company — a darling of venture capitalists and Wall Street that has grown past the risky and unprofitable startup phase to achieve a steady stream of revenue and products in the pipeline.

Fourteen Maryland biotechnology companies tapped nearly $6 million in new funding from investors who qualified for a state tax credit. The Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit is a state-mandated program that allows for a 50 percent tax break, up to $250,000, per investor in a qualified biotech company. To qualify, companies must be less than 12 years old, have headquarters in Maryland, employ fewer than 50 people and be state-certified as a biotechnology company. The tax credit is a central component of Gov. Martin O'Malley's BioMaryland 2020 plan, a 10-year, $1.3 billion strategy for growing the state's biotech industry.

A few months after General Motors made its last van at the 70-year-old Broening Highway plant, a seed for Maryland's new economy sprouted across town in West Baltimore. On a cold morning in October 2005, the governor and mayor heralded the opening of a biopark built by the University of Maryland, Baltimore - a place where researchers would pursue breakthroughs in treatments for diabetes, cancer and heart disease. One of the park's first tenants was a Japanese medical firm. Officials toasted the partnership with sake.

Three days after Gov. Martin O'Malley announced a $1.1 billion initiative for the biotechnology industry, Comptroller Peter Franchot announced yesterday that he would advocate that the state pension fund to invest about $1 billion in life sciences and "green" technology such as renewable energy and environmentally sensitive building materials. Franchot, who is vice chairman of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, said he would recommend that about $500 million be invested in the biotechnology industry, particularly in Maryland.

Foreign investment in U.S. biotechnology firms is growing, and small biotech firms hobbled by scarce capital at home can turn to Europe and Asia for investment capital and help in other areas, experts told a conference of industry leaders yesterday in Baltimore."

Aquaculturists growing blue crabs that might help restore the Chesapeake Bay and fish that could help feed the world. Doctors and scientists collaborating on vaccines that will help future generations live without the fear of AIDS or Alzheimer's. Skilled workers crafting contact lenses with micro-detectors that measure blood sugar and medication levels, eliminating the need for repeat blood tests. Maryland's burgeoning life sciences industry brings more than just economic development. As these examples show, it offers opportunities to benefit all humanity by curing illness, cleaning the environment and providing food for millions.