QUIZ

U.S. biotech companies will spend (a) $2.2 billion (b) $790 million (c) $8.1 billion or (d) $44.8 billion on research and development in 2004. BONUS QUESTION: The U.S.-based pharmaceutical industry will spend (a) $222 billion (b) $1.8 billion (c) $603 billion or (d) $59.6 billion on R&D this year.

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Palm Beach Bond Rating May Have Played a Large Part in Scripps Location Decision

The biggest biotech deal and potentially one of the biggest deals in the South's history may indeed come in the form of the Scripps Research Institute's decision to choose a large piece of farmland in western Palm Beach County, Fla. for its newest lab and office facility. It has been estimated the California-based biotech concern will spin-off as many as 50,000 new jobs in South and Central Florida in addition to the 6,000 it will employ directly. Scripps officials looked closely at a location in the Orlando metro for the project, but eventually chose Palm Beach County. Palm Beach, located just north of Fort Lauderdale and Miami, just happens to currently sport a AAA bond rating by Standard & Poor's and Fitch. That ranking is the highest given out by the two well known financial analysts that examine closely the ability of governments to pay off bonds. Moody's Investors Service rates Palm Beach County's bonds Aaa, which is its highest rating as well. Palm Beach County is but one of 37 counties nationwide that have earned AAA bond status and it's the only one in Florida, apparently the only state targeted seriously by Scripps for an East Coast operation. As a result of the more than $200 million in incentives offered to Scripps by Palm Beach (in addition to more than $300 million from the state of Florida, much of that backed by federal funds), the county must float a bond of equal value. A $200 million bond for a single project is huge by any county standard. But it's the ability of Palm Beach County to float such a bond that may have played a large part in Scripps' decision to locate there.

North Carolina Pitches Boston Biotech Companies

The privately funded North Carolina Biosciences Organization launched an advertising campaign in the winter in the Boston Globe in an effort to lure biotech concerns and skilled labor to the Tar Heel State. The advertisement invited CEOs of biotech companies in Massachusetts to expand or relocate to North Carolina. Officials with NCBio said that about 18,000 workers are employed in biotech fields in North Carolina and that skilled labor is in short supply, considering companies steal workers from one another all the time. North Carolina recently passed a bill that will fund a $64 million worker training initiative that centers exclusively on biotech manufacturing. NCBio is an organization funded by memberships. Members include GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen, Bayer and Trimeris among others.

Stowers Expanding in Kansas City

Kansas City's Stowers Institute for Medical Research is expected to double the size of its research facilities over the next five years. Stowers' current facility was completed in 2000 at a cost of $300 million. That facility is not filled to capacity as of yet, however, officials with Stowers said they want to start the new expansion before the current facility is completely occupied. Full occupancy of the current facility is expected in about two or three years. A site for the expanded facility has not been determined.

QUIZ ANSWER

According to R&D Magazine, U.S.-based biotechnology companies will spend (c) $8.1 billion on research and development this year. The answer to the BONUS QUESTION is (d). R&D predicts the pharmaceutical industry will spend $59.6 billion in research and development in 2004.