Courtesy of Neil W. Van Dyke
Massachusetts contends for the forefront of life-sciences research and development. Nonetheless, some business leaders worry that Massachusetts could fall behind, because this state lacks a formal link between industry and the state's public and private academic institutions. An ongoing roadmap, however, aims to keep Massachusetts on track as a leader in biotechnology.
Academic-industrial partnerships generate widespread benefits in other states. In a report on the needs for such links,1 Alex d'Arbeloff, founder of Boston-based Teradyne, asked, "Why has Silicon Valley created so many more large companies? Think about it: Apple, Intel, Hewlett Packard, Sun, and Cisco all benefited greatly by collaborating with Stanford." He added, "Many [of the companies] were founded by Stanford faculty. I can point to many Stanford faculty members who move in and out of industry. There's been less of that going on [in Massachusetts]."
William H. Guenther, president and founder ...
