Published July 2002

A growing biotech presence will pay off for county

Promoting Snohomish County’s well-established and growing biotechnology and biomedical sector isn’t just a wishful dream of the Snohomish County Economic Develop-ment Council.

There is good reason why this county is targeting that sector. It already has a thriving, synergistic community of scientists, entrepreneurs, researchers and physicians who are solving the riddles of some of the world’s most devastating diseases and developing new treatments.

At the EDC’s June quarterly economic update meeting, President Deborah Knutson predicted that years of biomedical research are about to pay off for the economy of Snohomish County and the entire Puget Sound region now that the commercialization of molecular biology discoveries is becoming a reality.

Fresh from attending Toronto’s recent biotech and biomedical conference, Knutson said the Puget Sound region ranks among the top five areas nationwide in terms of overall biotechnology activity, based on a recent survey by the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy.

“By 2005, biotech and medical technology companies in Washington state (primarily located in King and Snohomish counties) are expected to employ more than 26,000, with indirect employment generated by that sector exceeding 65,000,” she said.

One of the EDC’s primary goals is to make sure Snohomish County attracts its share of that growth, she said, noting that existing firms already provide a core of biotech ventures that give the county a strong edge in the nationwide competition for siting biotech firms. Already, the county’s biotech sector includes clinical testing facilities, research and development for juvenile diabetes, cancer research, pharmaceutical development and advances in ultrasound equipment.

Biotech and biomedical companies already in Snohomish County include Albany Molecular Research, Blue Heron Biotechnology, Celltech R&D, CEPTYR Inc., CombiMatrix, EDEN Bioscience, EKOS Corp., Ellard Instrumentation, Epoch Biosciences, Genespan, Helix BioMedix, ICOS Corp., ID Biomedical Corp., Immunex, Integrex, LifeSpex, Lumenis, MDS Pharma Services, Microvision, Northwest Biotherapeutics, Northwest Medical Physics, Phage Therapeutics, PharmaNet, Philips Ultrasound, Plexus, Prolinx Inc., Q-Pharma, QIAGEN Genomics, Quinton Instruments, Seattle Genetics, Simed Corp., SkeleTech, SNBL USA Ltd., SonoSite Inc., Sonus Pharmaceuticals and Thermogenic Imaging.

More than $600 million was invested in some 60 biotech projects in this area by the biotechnology sector between 1995 and 2001, according to Steven Gilbert, Director of the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders in Seattle.

In only a few years, ICOS in Canyon Park has grown from 65 employees to 460, with another 50 expected to be hired this year. Another Canyon Park biotech firm, Seattle Genetics, had 12 employees in 1998 and now has 90, with interviews under way to fill another 20 positions.

Gordon Brandt, Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for Sonus Pharmaceuticals, said, “There is a certain critical mass associated with biotech and pharmaceutical companies (that creates a synergistic core group) ... so Snohomish County has a great opportunity to build on the presence of biotech that’s already here.”

Indeed, it does. Snohomish County is home to nearly 23 percent of all Washington state biotech and biomedical companies and has 26 percent of the biotech sector’s employees. Growth projections indicate the county’s biotech and biomedical real estate market will increase by 72 percent between now and 2005.

It’s smart business for the EDC and its supporters to focus so intently on attracting more biotech and biomedical companies and jobs. It’s not only good for our economy, it also involves our county as a partner in an industry that is working to improve the health of significant sectors of our population — locally and globally.

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