Virginia and Maryland need to form a stronger partnership if the Washington region hopes to become a global leader in the biotech industry, said industry leaders Tuesday.
Representatives from both states made their pitch for cooperaton at the second annual Mid-Atlantic Bio conference, a two-day event designed to connect biotech entrepreneurs with potential investors. Bio, which runs through Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trader Center in the District, was sponsored for the first time by biotech associations from both Virginia and Maryland in an effort to position the region as a biotech leader.
“So much of the attention for the biotech industry goes to San Francisco, Boston, San Diego,” said Mark Herzog, executive director for the Virginia Biotechnology Association, which co-sponsored the event along with the Tech Council of Maryland’s biotech association, MdBio, and the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, the sole sponsor of last year’s Bio conference. “Industry leaders felt the time had come to unify and tell the story about the assets we have in this region. There’s a sense we’ve been overlooked.”
State officials announced Tuesday that Bio will alternate between Virginia and Maryland in order to emphasize the states’ commitment to working together. The fair will be held in Montgomery County in 2007 and in Fairfax in 2008.
“There’s been a lot of talk in the last decade about competition between Virginia and Maryland,” said Aris Melissaratos, secretary of Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development. “But as Maryland has become successful … we need to grow the regional strengths.”
This year’s conference coincided with the opening of Janelia Farm in Loudoun County. The opening of the biomedical research park in Northern Virginia is one step toward bridging the gap between the two states, said officials. Maryland’s proximity to the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins University has often given the state an advantage for attracting new biotech companies to the area, but Janelia may expand the perimeter of the Washington region’s biotech cluster.
“By establishing a critical mass of biotech companies [in Virginia and Maryland], we’ll be able to solidify our leadership role in the industry,” said Cheryl Moore, chief operating officer of Janelia Farm. Janelia is owned by Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which is headquartered in Chevy Chase. “This effort of coming together to speak as one voice is particularly important to us because we’re equally committed to both states. We’ve actually found that crossing the Potomac isn’t that difficult.”
