Montgomery may get boost from $1B biotech initiative

Montgomery County could be the big winner under Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to invest more than $1 billion in the state’s bioscience industry, depending on how funds are allocated.

Last week, O’Malley proposed spending $1.1 billion over the next 10 years to attract and grow Maryland life science firms — the governor’s staff said it would be the largest per capita investment in the industry made by any state in the country. Roughly 60 percent of the state’s more than 400 biotech firms are in Montgomery County, and many local leaders believe any boost in biotech funding automatically means good things for the region.