With so many excellent universities and research institutes in the area, more innovations should be ending up in the hands of entrepreneurs who can develop them into products, the report finds. In response, business leaders are beginning to make plans to attract more venture capital and more entrepreneurs to the region. Many of the area's research institutions are finding more effective ways to connect inventors with biotech and pharmaceutical businesses.
Interest in promoting life sciences in the region came into focus when the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) held its international meeting in Philadelphia in 2005, according to Russel Kauffman, president and CEO of the Wistar Institute and a member of the CEO Council for Growth. At that time the Milken Institute, an economic think tank, released a report that was commissioned in 2003 by several area organizations to assess Greater Philadelphia's position relative to other life science hotspots such as ...
