MD biotechs queue for tax credits

Written byBob Grant

| 1 min read

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Representatives from Maryland biotechnology start-ups made like potential contestants for __The Price is Right__ last Monday (June 30) and camped on a Baltimore sidewalk awaiting a chance at success. But these people weren't desperate to participate in the greatest game show on Earth, with a chance to win fabulous cash and prizes. They were lined up for a chance to suckle at the teat of the state's Department of Business and Economic Development, which was passing out state tax credits to biotechs on a first-come, first-served basis as part of a program designed to encourage Maryland's emerging biotech sector. According to the linkurl:__Washington Post__,;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/06/AR2008070601577.html?wpisrc=newsletter which sent a reporter down to the queue outside the Department of Business and Economic Development on East Redwood Street in Baltimore, several executives and scientists waited in line - some for up to 17 hours - to submit their applications for Maryland's Biotechnology Investment Tax Credit program. The program awards investors in small biotech companies in the state up to 50 percent of their money back in tax credits. This year's pool of money is $6 million, but Maryland's governor, linkurl:Martin O'Malley,;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54752/ told the __Post__ that next year's will be $12 million, and the program will offer $24 million in 2013. This year is the third that the state's biotech start-ups have had the opportunity to participate in the program, which is similar to programs in other states including Wisconsin, Washington, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and New York. According to the __Post,__ last week was the first time that biotech representatives have camped out for a shot at the Maryland tax incentives.

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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