State biotech industry needs, deserves support

Much to our disappointment, the University of Georgia will not become home to the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), where more than 300 scientists and other employees will study animal diseases to protect the U.S. from terrorist attacks. Had UGA won the bid for the facility, recently awarded a consortium near Kansas State University, the Athens — and Georgia — economies would have enjoyed a needed boost.

Despite this setback, there is still good news. Our research institutions continue to play a dynamic and important role in establishing our state as a national leader in biotechnology. And, while most Georgians enjoy watching our institutions compete on the playing field, our universities collaborate effectively and often off the field, tackling tomorrow’s complex problems as a team. So effectively, that BIO, the annual biotechnology industry convention in May, will be hosted by Atlanta.

Our research universities’ complementary strengths have helped create more than 150 high-tech and biomedical companies and over 5,500 jobs in Georgia. As the financial crisis continues, it is important that we continue to build on this asset so that our research and biotechnology industries can cushion our economy in the face of a recession and position our state for a fast recovery as the economy improves. A state must maintain an infrastructure for scientific discovery — just as we maintain our highways and ports to keep other commerce growing.

A recent Families USA report ranked Georgia among the top-10 states for the economic impact of research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Every $1 from the NIH stimulates $2.36 of additional business activity. The Georgia Research Alliance has offered millions in matching grants to attract NIH dollars. The result: NIH grants totaling more than $374 million in fiscal year 2006 (the most recent data), spurring over $850 million in economic activity. Collaboration is the key to this multiplier effect.

For example, GRA recently provided $3 million to Georgia Tech, Emory University and the Medical College of Georgia, supplementing $10 million from NIH, to establish a nanomedicine center. Another promising partnership between the Medical College of Georgia and Georgia Tech, also supported by GRA, seeks new ways to grow bone, cartilage, muscle, teeth and skin to treat facial deformities caused by cancer, trauma and congenital defects.

With $25 million from NIH, the Georgia Research Alliance and the Department of Defense, Clark Atlanta has established a prostate cancer research center that collaborates with Georgia Tech, Georgia State, the University of Georgia and MCG. Last year, a $31 million NIH grant went jointly to Emory, Georgia Tech, the Morehouse School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which increasingly partners with the state’s research universities. They will work to translate laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients while stimulating $73 million in economic activity.

The value of these collaborations isn’t limited to local economic impact, however. For example, UGA and Georgia Tech are collaborating on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science’s most important initiative in recent times: to increase the efficiency of biofuels production, a national priority. Our two universities are leaders in the resulting $135 million multi-institutional bioenergy science center. These collaborations bring tens of millions of dollars to Georgia, and this money fuels cutting-edge research on public health and other critical issues facing our society even as it invigorates our economy. Although our teamwork is evident, Georgia faces stiff competition, not just from other states — as demonstrated by the bidding process for the bio defense lab — but also from Europe and emerging centers in Asia. Georgia must continue to support multidisciplinary and public-private collaborations to create tomorrow’s jobs and solve today’s complex health problems.

• Mike Cassidy (left) is president of the Georgia Research Alliance in Atlanta. David Lee is vice president for research at the University of Georgia.