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State Legislative Best Practices in Support of Bioscience Industry Development
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Technology Transfer
State and local governments seeking to create regional economic growth have increasingly focused attention on technology transfer as a mechanism to increase private sector innovation related activities within their jurisdictions. Realizing that entrepreneurship is a key ingredient in economic development, states and localities are undertaking the support of programs that assist high technology businesses, and that capitalize on state regional presence of universities and federal laboratories.
Once research yields a new discovery from a university or federal laboratory, there is still a great deal of work to be done before the technology can be incorporated into the marketplace. Because government investments in the basic research to deploy knowledge and capabilities in the marketplace, universities increasingly focus their efforts on creating mechanisms to assist faculty, entrepreneurs and companies through the commercialization process. The passage of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 has aided universities aid in moving invention and innovation into the marketplace.
Nearly every state now has programs that provide commercialization assistance to universities and technology companies in an effort to more smoothly transition invention into innovation in the marketplace.
Washington: Life Science Discovery Fund
PDF of Legislative Language (106 KB)
In 2005, the State of Washington earmarked a portion of its tobacco settlement dollars to fund bioscience research and development through the $350 million Life Sciences Discovery Fund (SB 5581). In 2006, the state began allocating $35 million annually to fund research projects with economic development potential, including recruitment and facility enhancements. By doing so the state hopes to leverage $1 billion in funding, and create 20,000 jobs over the 10-year lifetime of the Discovery Fund. The fund adopts a broad definition of the life sciences encompassing biotech, pharmaceuticals, biomedical technologies, life system technologies, nutraceuticals, food processing, environmental and biomedical devices.
California: San Diego CONNECT Program
About the Program from the program Web site
CONNECT of San Diego is designed to link entrepreneurs with critical resources for success, by providing networking opportunities as well as expertise to San Diego's technology-based firms. Through the use of partnerships with the region's industry-specific organizations and individuals, CONNECT assists entrepreneurs and bioscience companies with commercializing ideas, patents, and other opportunities surrounding university or private research institute R&D efforts. This program also includes the CONNECT Entrepreneurs' Roundtable, a monthly program designed for capital providers, CEOs, and presidents of San Diego-based early stage companies to advise high technology start-ups.
Texas: Emerging Technology Fund
PDF of Legislative Language (75 KB)
The Texas Emerging Technology Fund was created by House Bill 1765 in 2005 in an effort to speed up the process of commercialization. The purpose of the fund is to generate new jobs and companies from technologies created by institutions of higher education in Texas. The Fund is dedicated to recruiting research talent, matching grants to help draw down federal dollars, and to help push technology through the commercialization phase. This legislation also creates Regional Centers of Innovation and Commercialization (RCICs). These RCICs are expected to foster collaboration on emerging technologies between public and private entities and institutions of higher education.
Georgia: Eminent Scholars Program
PDF of Legislative Language (186 KB)
The Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholars Program was created in 1990 in hopes of attracting pre-eminent scientists to Georgia's universities. These scientists now lead programs of research and development in areas with the most potential for generating new high-value companies, growing established companies, and creating new high-wage jobs. To date, the Alliance has invested approximately $400 million. This investment has helped to attract more than 50 Eminent Scholars, leverage an additional $2 billion in federal and private funding, create more than 5,000 new technology jobs, generate some 120 new technology companies, and allow established Georgia companies to expand into new markets.
Colorado: Advancement of New Bioscience Discoveries Initiative
PDF of Legislative Language (36 KB)
Colorado's "Advancement of New Bioscience Discoveries" legislation of 2005 is essentially a state bioscience proof of concept (POC) program. This program provides funds to be used on a one-to-one matched basis for development-oriented research to accelerate commercialization by reducing inventions to operational practice and validating their ability to address significant market applications. The State bioscience preclinical research program awards (which include an 8% facilities and administrative cost) are designated at between $50k and $200k. Technologies are competitively selected after several steps to confirm the potential for commercial success.
DISCLAIMER: The examples cited in this document are only a small fraction of policies state governments have put in place to grow the bioscience industry. It is not intended to be exclusive of other policies to develop technology-based industries.
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