Washington State Aims at Biotech

Washington State wants to become a bigger biotech player. A rough draft of a strategy called "Bio 21" proposes a five-year, $250 million commitment to state biotech. Tobacco settlement dollars have been suggested as one possible source of funding, though no firm financing mechanism is on the table yet.

Under the draft proposal, state dollars would be matched by companies, the federal government or nonprofits. The draft suggests annual awards would go to research in diagnostics and therapeutics, bioengineering and health-care informatics. Collaboration between two or more organizations would be required for all proposals, with priority given to partnerships between nonprofit research organizations and companies, the draft says.

A 2002 Brookings Institute report ranked Seattle as a prominent but second-tier biotech city, on par with San Diego and Raleigh-Durham and trailing only San Francisco and Boston. Local industry and government leaders worry the region could fall behind if state funding doesn't increase.

The Bio 21 committee has been developing a strategy for statewide biotech funding since the state Legislature earmarked $250,000 for the planning process. Locke's office hired the Technology Alliance to develop the initiative.

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