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Biotechnology in Maryland

Overview
Maryland has 50 research-related federal institutes including the National Cancer Institute and Biomedical Research Institute; scientists and Nobel Prize winners such as National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis S. Collins and Johns Hopkins molecular biologist Dr. Carol Greider; and more than 500 life science companies including United Therapeutics, MedImmune, BD Diagnostics, Human Genome Sciences and Life Technologies. Discoveries made in Maryland include mapping the human genome, the first treatment for Lupus in nearly 50 years, the first test for HPV for cervical cancer, the creation of the first self-replicating synthetic cell, and the development of the first non-stick flu vaccine.

Approximately one half of Maryland’s bioscience industry is in biopharmaceutical discovery, with the rest in medical diagnostics, and device and research tools development. Companies in the state create gene-based diagnostics, integrate biologics and nanotechnology into medical devices, and develop R&D technology platforms.

Maryland has one of the largest bioscience clusters in the United States.

Discoveries
Maryland scientists from NIH and Celera mapped the human genome, identifying the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes in human DNA. In 1995, the Institute for Genomic Research (now part of the J. Craig Venter Institute) helped launch genome mapping with its landmark publication of the first full DNA sequence of a free-living organism, the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae. Venter and his team also created the first self-replicating synthetic cell in 2010. "This is the first self-replicating cell we've had on the planet whose parent is a computer," Venter said in a Popular Mechanics story.

QIAGEN developed the Digene HPV test, the first FDA-approved human papilloma virus (HPV) test used for cervical cancer screening. In 1984, research groups, including one led by Dr. Robert Gallo of the National Cancer Institute, identified the AIDS-causing virus HIV.

FluMist, the first and only nasal spray flu vaccine approved in the United States to help prevent influenza, was created by Maryland-based MedImmune.

In March 2011, the Food and Drug Administration approved Human Genome Sciences’ Benlysta, the first new drug to treat lupus in more than 50 years.

Notable Scientists and Industry Leaders
Maryland life science leaders and Nobel Prize winners (see chart below) include Dr. Francis S. Collins, Dr. Carol Greider, Claire M. Fraser-Liggett, and H. Thomas Watkins.

Physician-geneticist Dr. Francis S. Collins is the director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Collins is noted for his discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which completed the sequencing of human DNA in April 2003.

Dr. Carol Greider, Director of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences and a Hopkins faculty member since 1997, was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak, for their discovery that telomeres are protected from progressive shortening by the enzyme telomerase.

Microbiologist Claire M. Fraser-Liggett is the President of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. Dr. Fraser-Liggett led The Institute for Genomic Research teams that sequenced the genomes of Mycoplasma genitalium, the spirochetes Treponema pallidum and Borrelia burgdorferi, and two species of Chlamydia.

H. Thomas Watkins joined Human Genome Sciences as CEO and Director in December 2004, and was named President in December 2005, after nearly 20 years of experience at Abbott Laboratories.

History
The following are some historical developments in Maryland's life sciences industry since the mid-19th Century:

1800s
Formal education to prepare students for the practice of dentistry originated in 1840 when the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery was chartered by the General Assembly of Maryland.

Johns Hopkins University, the first research university in the United States, was founded February 22, 1876 and modeled after European research institutions where research and the advancement of knowledge were integrally linked to teaching.

The Army Medical School (Walter Reed Army Institute of Research) in Silver Spring was founded in 1893 by U.S. Army Surgeon General George Sternberg as the Army Medical School and is widely recognized as the oldest school of public health and preventive medicine in the United States.



1900s
In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the new National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda. The campus included the National Cancer Institute, which was established in 1937. In 1990, the U.S. Human Genome Project was established, which was a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. In 1992, the not-for-profit Institute for Genomic Research was founded by Craig Venter to decipher and analyze genomes.

2000s
In 2001, the working draft of the human genome sequence for the U.S. Human Genome Project was published. In 2007, the Maryland legislature and Governor Martin O’Malley created the Life Sciences Advisory Board. In 2009, the Maryland Biotechnology Center was created as one of the first initiatives of BioMaryland 2020 – the state strategic plan for life sciences delivered by the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board.

Industry Profile
Maryland has more than 500 bioscience companies, representing approximately 8 percent of the U.S. industry. Maryland ranks second in the Milken Institute’s State Technology and Science Index for 2010. According to 2010 Milken Institute study results, Maryland received high rankings in human capital investment, research and development inputs, technology and science workforce, and technology concentration and dynamism.

In the 2011 Business Facilities Ranking Report, Maryland ranks third in biotechnology strength based on R&D and venture capital investment, employment, tax exemptions, facilities, patents and higher education.

The life sciences sector accounted for one-third of all job gains during 2002 to 2010. More than 1,700 private sector establishments are directly involved in life sciences work – the fifth highest concentration in the US. Life sciences directly accounts for 71,600 jobs, or 3 percent of all jobs in Maryland.

BioMaryland 2020
BioMaryland 2020 was suggested by the Life Sciences Advisory Board (Chapter 304, Acts of 2007), a gubernatorial proposed and legislatively authorized Maryland Commission in 2007. Chaired by H. Thomas Watkins since its inception, the board is composed of 15 representatives from industry, academia, federal research labs and economic development agencies.

The plan is a $1.3 billion investment in the state’s life sciences industry over 10 years designed to attract and grow the bioscience industry. BioMaryland 2020 calls for bioentrepreneurial development, translational and commercialization initiatives, and global partnering.

Maryland Biotechnology Center
The Maryland Biotechnology Center, an organization within the Department of Business and Economic Development, was created in 2009 by Governor O'Malley as one of the first initiatives of BioMaryland 2020. The center, based in Baltimore and Rockville, serves as a resource to increase and strengthen the bioscience community.

The center is responsible for coordinating programs to help entrepreneurs, academic and government scientists capitalize on scientific discoveries and intellectual assets.

Workforce
Maryland’s workforce has the highest concentration of PhDs working in health, biological and mathematical sciences. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Maryland is second in microbiologists; first in medical and health services managers; third in chemists; and third in life, physical and social science technicians.

Life sciences direct salaries total $6.5 billion in Maryland, and account for 71,600 jobs, or 3% of all jobs in Maryland. The average life sciences salary across sectors is $91,100, 76% higher than the average salary.

Academia
Maryland leads the nation in university conducted life sciences research per capita. The state’s universities received $894 million in National Institute of Health Research and Development awards in FY 2011, and conducted more than $2 billion in R&D, much in the life sciences.

Approximately one-third of Maryland’s total student population of is enrolled in programs relevant to the biopharmaceutical industry whether business or science related. More than 6,500 industry-relevant degrees are awarded each year in diversified programs in biological science and health.

Johns Hopkins University (JHU) is consistently ranked as the top biomedical campus and clinical research hospital in the U.S. and internationally. Additionally, JHU ranks first among U.S. colleges and universities in total National Institutes of Health awards, including grants and contracts for research, development, training and fellowships totaling more than $607 million.

The University System of Maryland consists of 11 independent campuses with five focusing on the biological and biomedical sciences.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore has conducted $1.5 billion worth of research in areas including cancer, biodefense, vaccines, neuroscience, vascular biology, and HIV/AIDS.

Corporations
Industry leaders in Maryland include Human Genome Sciences, MedImmune, BD Diagnostics, Human Genome Sciences, United Therapeutics, and Qiagen. MedImmune, once the sixth largest biotechnology company globally, was acquired in 2007 by Astra Zeneca (UK/Sweden) for $15.6 billion. Teva Pharmaceutical of Israel acquired CoGenesys, a Human Genome Sciences spin-out company, for $400 million in 2008. Germany’s Qiagen NV, which established its U.S. headquarters in the state in 2001, acquired Digene, an original Maryland biotechnology company, for $1.6 billion in 2007. In 2012, Amgen agreed to acquire Maryland-based Micromet for $1.16 billion to strengthen its research and development pipeline for cancer drugs. In 2011, DSM completed its nearly $1.1 billion of acquisition of Columbia-based Martek Biosciences Corporation.

Federal facilities
The state has 15 federal life sciences institutes and centers. The Translational Research Institute provides opportunities for industry and academic institutes to collaborate with federal research centers. Federal life science institutions include:


 * Biomedical Research Institute
 * National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center
 * National Institutes of Health
 * U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
 * U.S. Food and Drug Administration
 * Walter Reed National Military Medical Center