OSU supports bioscience economy

Central Ohio has combination of assets associated with success

Ohio State is considered a valuable central Ohio asset that will factor heavily into efforts by business, nonprofit industry and education leaders to develop the region's bioscience economy, according to a report released in mid-May by trustees of the Edison BioTechnology Center Inc. (EBTC).

Central Ohio offers a combination of assets that are consistently associated with success in developing biomedical jobs in other regions, the study notes. These assets include a comprehensive research university, major nonprofit technology and research organizations, high-quality medical care institutions, and a cadre of emerging bioscience companies.

Ohio State, for example, receives more than $160 million a year in bioscience research funding, ranking it 24th out of 500 research universities.

The report,"A Central Ohio Bioscience Strategy for the 21st Century: Building a Base for Midwest Leadership,"provides a framework for developing the bioscience economy in central Ohio that revolves around research, product development and sales activities in the medical, biotechnology and life science fields.

The study also shows that the region won't be starting from scratch. There are already nearly 400 bioscience establishments, employing more than 13,000, in the seven-county central Ohio metropolitan area. The percentage of central Ohio employment in this sector, nearly 2 percent, exceeds national averages, and the average wage is nearly $55,000.

"This report not only reinforces what we are doing here at the University to enhance cooperation between industry and Ohio State's research community, it also challenges us to more aggressively move discoveries into the marketplace, which will produce clear benefits for the citizens of Ohio,"said David Allen, assistant vice president for technology partnerships."Recognizing Ohio State as a major economic development asset to this region is indeed gratifying, but this recognition also signifies increased responsibilities, primary of which is imbuing entrepreneurship and commercial understanding into academic culture -- a transformative and long-term proposition."

The study provides a backdrop for continuing discussions on how central Ohio can become a leading Midwest innovator in such fields as health care information technology and bioinformatics, bioengineering and medical product development, food science and agricultural biotechnology, contract drug development, and disease assessment and treatment.

"The study confirms that bioscience is an important sector of central Ohio's economy today, and represents an opportunity to diversify our economy and to grow high-paying, technology-based jobs in the future,"said Dale Siegel, vice president for EBTC's central Ohio region."É (W)e anticipate that this information will be used in the broader deliberations on technology-based economic development now under way in the region."

Added Peter Kleinhenz, an EBTC board member and partner in CID Equity Partners,"The report provides a very useful framework for developing bioscience in the region, and fits well with a variety of activities that are under way at The Ohio State University and other centers of technology in the region. The next steps are to advance a greater understanding about bioscience, seek consensus on the approach to growing the industry, and when that consensus develops, we will be back to the broader community with a strategy fitting the available resources."

The study, begun in January 2001 and completed in late April by the Technology Partnership Practice at Battelle Memorial Institute, was commissioned by the central Ohio office of EBTC. It was performed by The Battelle Institute's Technology Partnership Practice, based in Cleveland, under the leadership of Walter H. Plosila, vice president for public technology management. The project was underwritten by EBTC, Battelle, CID Equity Partners and BIOMEC Systems Inc., and was overseen by a 13-member steering committee that included Allen from Ohio State and David Cattey, executive director of the Business Technology Center within the Science and Technology Campus based in the west campus area.

EBTC is a nonprofit organization created in 1987 to accelerate the growth of Ohio's biomedical industry. The full report can be downloaded from the EBTC Web site at www.ebtc.org/FinalBiotech_Rpt.pdf.

By Kevin Fitzsimons Michael Dell, chair and CEO of Dell Computer Corp., speaks to Fisher College of Business faculty and students May 21 during his visit to Ohio State as part of Connectivity 2001, a series of events focusing on technology commercialization opportunities involving the University, city of Columbus and state of Ohio.

2001 TechPartners awards presented

The 2001 TechPartners awards were presented May 25 to one Ohio State faculty member and one central Ohio company. Both were recognized because they reflect the best practices in partnerships that transfer knowledge and technology into business success.

Daral Jackwood, a professor at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), received the award for distinction as a"serial inventor"who has created several diagnostic and vaccine technologies that will lead to major advances in animal food production and stronger partnerships between animal science at Ohio State and the beef and poultry industries. This, in addition to his work with graduate students, makes Jackwood a model for the type of researcher with whom TechPartners and business can easily work.

The corporate award winner was Columbus-based LabBook Inc., for the development and commercialization of its XML-based software and its partnership involving the annotated genomics database created by Ohio State's Human Cancer Genetics Program, along with continued support for that group, enabling program researchers to explore the origins of human disease. The result of this partnership between research and industry demonstrates how Ohio and the University can be catalysts for significant technological advances to meet the changing needs of society.

During the award presentation at Longaberger Alumni House, keynote speaker Gov. Bob Taft addressed the role that technology plays in Ohio's economic potential.

"If we don't invest in the future, the future will pass us by. We've seen increases in agriculture, banking, insurance, retail and manufacturing,"Taft said."Our manufacturing sector has driven our economy -- more products with fewer people. That's why we must look to technology for the strong economy of the future, and that's why we must rely on educational institutions to build the jobs to support the economics of the future."

TechPartners is an affiliation of three Ohio State offices -- Technology Partnerships, Technology Licensing and Business and Industry Contracts -- and four external technology organizations: the Business Technology Center, the Science and Technology Campus Corp., the Technology Commercialization Corp. and the Columbus Technology Leadership Council.

For more information about TechPartners, visit the Web at http://techpartners.osu.edu.

Darla Peelle is communications liaison for TechPartners.

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