Cincinnati Ohio Economic Development

Bioscience Industry Growing Fast in Ohio

business-journal.com
Known for decades as a manufacturing state, Forbes magazine now ranks Ohio third in the nation for technology jobs. One of the contributing factors is the commitment the Buckeye State has made to the bioscience industry, says Anthony Dennis, CEO of BioOhio, the state’s economic development agency for biosciences.

The bioscience industry is Ohio’s fastest-growing industry in virtually all ways, according to Dennis. “Every year, our bioscience companies and research institutions create jobs, export products and services, and deliver game-changing treatments to the marketplace and, most importantly, to patients,” he said.

That success is spilling over into Ohio universities, with the number of bioscience undergraduates on the rise. Two-year, four-year, graduate and advanced degree programs produce an educated work force necessary to build a bioscience organization, and to grow Ohio’s bioscience industry into an international leader.

Emerging in the Columbus area recently were Ohio State University spinout company Nanofiber Solutions and Scotland-based advanced prosthetics maker Touch Bionics, both of which have made global headlines recently with their innovative advances, Dennis said.

More than 1,345 bioscience firms operate at 1,800 locations in Ohio, up from 1,115 firms operating 1,290 locations in 2000. These operations range from innovative start-ups supported by biotech incubators to emerging stars—such as Meridian Bioscience, Atricure, Diagnostic Hybrids and Ganeden Biotech—to some of the largest corporations in the world—Cardinal Health, P&G, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Abbott. Bioscience employment in Ohio has grown 19.5% since 2000, in contrast to a decline of 8.6% in total employment in Ohio, Dennis said.

Also increasing are the number of specialized graduates. According to BioOhio, in 2010, Ohio institutions awarded 8,088 bioscience related degrees, up 395 from the previous year. Comparing 2010 to 2006, the number of earned degrees has increased by nearly 26%.

Abundant access to capital through private sources and state programs such as Ohio Third Frontier is another factor fueling growth of Ohio’s biomedical science industry. Between January 2002 and June 2010, more than $650 million of Ohio Third Frontier funds were competitively awarded to support bioscience-related development and commercialization initiatives, according to Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, a nonprofit organization that markets the state for capital investment.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.

Read the business-journal.com article here.