Focus on Seattle

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Sean Doyle interviewed with half a dozen universities and biotech companies but chose Seattle-based ZymoGenetics. While his wife had been apprehensive about Seattle's legendary precipitation, both have fallen in love with the city. "We've been pleasantly surprised with the beauty of the area," says Doyle, who holds a PhD in molecular biology from UCLA. The region also enjoys "a good support network with strong research at the University of Washington and at a number of biotech companies."

The engine driving the life sciences in Seattle is its nonprofit research sector, which received more than $730 million in National Institutes of Health funding in fiscal 2003. Nonprofit institutions employ fully half the biotech workforce. Prominent among these are the University of Washington (UW) and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center ("the Hutch").

UW, the oldest state-assisted university on the Pacific Coast with 35,000 students in 16 schools and colleges, received more than $440 million in NIH funding in fiscal 2003, placing it first among public and second among all US universities. The UW School of Medicine, with a full-time faculty of 1,600, including four Nobel laureates, has particular research strengths in genomics, computational biology and predictive protein structure, and biodefense research. With 770 medical students and 580 grad students in the basic sciences, UW also serves as the regional medical school for the states of Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho.

The Hutch, with nearly 1,600 faculty and researchers, received more than $207 million in NIH awards last year, placing it first among all nonprofit research institutes. Other major Seattle area research centers include the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), whose 170 scientists study interactions in whole systems rather than single genes or proteins; the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI), whose 160 researchers focus solely on infectious diseases; and the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, whose 165 researchers concentrate on autoimmune and genetic diseases.

These institutes and others were established largely by former UW faculty who wanted to concentrate their research at free-standing institutes. Leroy Hood, a pioneer in gene and protein sequencing, cofounded ISB in 2000 after having run UW's Department of Molecular Biotechnology for eight years. In 1992 Bill Gates helped lure Hood to UW from Caltech with a $12 million grant that helped fund the new department. The ISB and other research centers maintain strong ties to UW. "There is an unusual propensity for different institutions to collaborate in Seattle," Hood says. "The interaction barrier here is very, very low."

For instance, most of the faculty and staff at the Hutch have affiliate opportunities at the UW medical school, while UW grad students use Hutch lab facilities to conduct research for their doctorates. The Hope Heart Institute, a prominent cardiovascular research facility in Seattle, is partnering with BRI to form the Hope Heart Program to advance translational research.

"It's this kind of collaboration and cooperation that very much characterizes this region," says Albert Berger, vice dean for research and graduate education at UW School of Medicine.

HOME-GROWN SCIENCE

Like the research community, much of Seattle's biotech industry is locally grown. Many former employees of Immunex, the city's largest biotech (acquired by Amgen in 2002), now work at ICOS, Dendreon, and Targeted Genetics. Some 130 biotech companies, including Merck/Rosetta, ZymoGenetics, and Corixa, use technologies developed at UW, the Hutch, and other local research institutes.

Seattle also benefits from the largesse of two of its wealthiest residents – Microsoft cofounders Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Both have donated millions of dollars to local academia and biotech. Last year Allen donated $100 million to establish the Allen Institute for Brain Science, while Gates gave $70 million to UW to create a genomics research facility.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested $525 million in Seattle-based organizations involved in global infectious diseases, including $222 million to the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health to support vaccine development, and $15 million for SBRI's malaria vaccine initiative. "It's not because they are in Seattle," says Richard Klausner, executive director of the global health program at the Foundation and former director of the National Cancer Institute in Washington, DC. "It just so happens there is an intellectually diverse community and a confluence and convergence of public health research here."

Allen and Gates have also invested millions in several of the city's biotech companies, including ICOS, Corixa, Seattle Genetics, and Dendreon. Bothell-based ICOS developed Cialis (tadalafil), which is now marketed by Lilly in competition with Pfizer's Viagra (sildenafil citrate) to treat erectile dysfunction.

PROS, AND A HANDFUL OF CONS

For all its strengths, Seattle also has its drawbacks. Unlike many other biotech hotspots, the region lacks a major pharmaceutical manufacturer whose presence would boost employment and attract more business (although Berlex Laboratories plans to open a small drug production facility in Snohomish County in 2007). Washington doesn't offer the range of grants and financial incentives available in other states to foster startups, and early-stage venture capital isn't easy to come by. Industry and state officials are beginning to address these issues, but "we need a comprehensive, statewide bioscience strategy," concedes Ruth Scott, president of the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association

Salaries in Seattle are fairly strong, with biotech employees earning an average of $68,000 and senior researchers making closer to $72,000. Another plus: Washington doesn't have personal or corporate state income tax, so employees and companies get to keep more of their earnings than they would in other locales. That's also helpful when recruiting scientists to the area. "It's like adding 6 to 7 percent to their bottom line," says Bruce Montgomery, chief executive of Corus Phar-ma, which develops aerosol drugs for asthma and cystic fibrosis.

Still, living in Seattle is not cheap. The overall cost of living is 36% more than the national average, and housing prices are 65% higher. This is despite Seattle's general economic slowdown over the past four years, due largely to the loss of about 60,000 jobs after the dot-com bust of 2000 and Boeing's corporate relocation to Chicago in 2001.

In 1996, Fortune magazine named Seat-tle the top US city in which to live and work. This year Seattle received a much different distinction: It was ranked first in Forbes magazine's most overpriced places to live based on its high cost of living, least affordable housing, and modest job and income growth. Local officials contend the housing costs are tied to high demand, as about 25% of residents are in professional positions that command significant salaries. When compared to other major biotech hotspots, Seattle's living and housing costs are actually among the more moderate.

ECLECTIC CULTURE

Seattle is also known for its distinctive neighborhoods and range of music, from independent rock to classical, as well as abundant coffee shops and bookstores. The city is home to the acclaimed Seattle Opera and the century-old Seattle Symphony. In addition to several world-class art museums, the Seattle Center features the landmark Space Needle, developed for the 1962 World's Fair, as well as Paul Allen's Experience Music Project (EMP) and Science Fiction Museum, which reflect Allen's own eclectic tastes. The EMP runs the equally eclectic radio station KEXP in partnership with UW.

Like many cities, this caffeine-fueled locale suffers from rush-hour gridlock. Commuting can easily take 45 minutes, especially when inching one's way across the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge that connects Bellevue and Kirkland to the university district and downtown. But Seattle's robust scientific community, culture, and gorgeous outdoors more than compensate for the rain, traffic, and housing costs. "This is one of the most beautiful, breathtaking cities anywhere," says Klausner. "After living on the East coast all my life, I'm a convert to this environment. It's overwhelming to live in a place of such natural beauty."