BioNJ Release: New Jersey - “America’s Original Biopharmaceutical Heartland”

Scientific American Worldview Calls New Jersey “An Unyielding Driver of 21^st Century Biotech Innovation”

TRENTON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scientific American Worldview, the annual custom edition on global biotechnology innovation, debuted last week at the BIO International Convention in San Francisco, touting New Jersey’s “bumper-to-bumper innovation, first-rate workforce, world-class institutions and business friendly resources.”

“We are thrilled to add to our global mix this year an analysis of innovation at the state level. We decided to focus on New Jersey since it is a legacy pharmaceutical region, with an infrastructure, talent pool and fertile partnering environment very ripe for entrepreneurs and budding companies.”

This report comes on the heels of The Value of Bioscience Innovation in Growing Jobs and Improving Quality of Life 2016, released last Tuesday by TEConomy and BIO, which cites New Jersey as topping the list of states with a high degree of specialization in four of five industry sub-sectors.

“Worldview’s recognition of New Jersey as a leading biotech hotbed in conjunction with BIO’s TEConomy report noting New Jersey’s prominence in the sector confirm what we in New Jersey know-that a combination of factors come together to make New Jersey a place where the industry is gathering and growing and delivering therapies and cures to the Patients who need them,” says BioNJ President and CEO Debbie Hart.

Worldview cites New Jersey as the place “where leading-edge technologies merge with biotech,” identifying Rutgers University’s Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems, a state-of-the-art continuous manufacturing facility, as an example of the State’s emerging technology revolutionizing the pharmaceutical industry.

The 10-page report includes testimonials from industry leaders on why they chose New Jersey. Bob Ward, CEO of Radius Health, says that he was drawn to New Jersey for its dynamic workforce. “Many of the people we were looking to recruit were in New Jersey, so we decided to create a third footprint to enable people to join the company where they already live,” says Ward.

Ward’s neighbor in Parsippany, Dr. Clive Meanwell, Founder and CEO of The Medicines Company, agrees that a “solid workforce across all stages of the drug development process from product development to regulatory approval, manufacturing and marketing and sales, was a main motivator for setting down roots in the Garden State.”

The report also features a detailed interview with Kathleen Coviello, Director of Technology and Life Sciences at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, on the variety of incentives in place to cultivate a vibrant biotechnology sector in the State.

Worldview Founder and Publisher, Jeremy Abbate said, “We are thrilled to add to our global mix this year an analysis of innovation at the state level. We decided to focus on New Jersey since it is a legacy pharmaceutical region, with an infrastructure, talent pool and fertile partnering environment very ripe for entrepreneurs and budding companies.”

“Scientific American Worldview’s report is spot on,” says Michele Brown, President and CEO of Choose New Jersey. “So many New Jersey biopharmaceutical and life sciences companies received that coveted FDA approval because they and our communities of incubators, collaborators and New Jersey’s top R&D companies, universities, government agencies and investors support startups spearheading new ideas,” she says. “These new young companies, partnered with and supported by New Jersey’s continually expanding life sciences and biopharmaceutical community ensure that the State’s life sciences industry sees its future innovation growing right here, in our Garden State.”

“We couldn’t be more proud of New Jersey’s robust life sciences ecosystem,” says Hart. “Worldview summed it up best, '...the Garden State’s hidden biotech hot spots are driving the industry toward a brighter future -- no stopping or standing allowed.’”

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About BioNJ

BioNJ, The Gateway to Health, is a network of more than 400 Members representing research-based life sciences companies and stakeholders dedicated to propelling a vibrant ecosystem where Science is Supported, Companies are Created, Drugs are Developed and Patients are Paramount. Because Patients Can’t Wait^SM, BioNJ supports its Members in the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies and cures that save and improve lives and lessen the burden of illness and disease to society by driving capital formation, fostering entrepreneurship, advocating for public policies that advance medical innovation, providing access to talent and education and offering a cost-saving array of critical commercial resources. For more information about BioNJ, please visit www.BioNJ.org.