Get with Biomanufacturing, Panel Tells NY State Officials

New York should improve investment incentives to attract the money needed to develop biotechnology companies in the Rochester area and across the state, scientists and executives told a NY state Senate task force earlier this week.

Start-up companies and researchers also need an affordable facility where they can manufacture the amount of new drugs required for initial clinical trials that prove safety to federal regulators and potential to investors.

A biomanufacturing facility would be the most important and effective way for New York “to capture and retain” the biotechnology industry, Maurice Zauderer, chief executive of Vaccinex Inc. of Rochester, told the NextGen Task Force.

Zauderer called the proposed facility the New York State Center for Biologics Manufacturing. He estimated the center would need about $10 million in state aid for construction and $4 million to cover annual operating costs. His proposal received support from Dr. Howard Federoff, the University of Rochester’s senior associate dean for research, Paul Wetenhall, executive director of High Tech Rochester, and others.

To help biotechnology companies commercialize products, the state should increase its investment in early-stage companies, said Christopher O’Donnell, managing director of the Trillium Group.

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