North Carolina's Biotechnology Investment Tops Billion-Dollar Mark; Battelle Study Quantifies Economic Dividend...( Total impact of NC's biotechnology se...)

Total impact of NC's biotechnology sector is $45.8 billion, 180,007 jobs

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- North Carolina has invested more than $1 billion in its expanding biotechnology enterprise during the past 10 years, and the annual economic impact exceeds $45 billion, according to data released today at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

Norris Tolson, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Center, and leaders from the government, education and academic institutions that made those investments spoke at a news conference Thursday about the significance of the investment in building a foundation for future growth.

"Smart, steady investment in biotechnology has created a major economic engine in North Carolina," said Tolson.

"This technology will help us meet the major global needs of the future -- health care, energy and food. But it also brings tangible benefits to North Carolinians in the form of jobs, and the potential is there for many more."

The success of the biotechnology industry and the statewide partnerships that support it were verified by the findings of an economic-impact study from the Battelle Memorial Institute's Technology Partnership Practice.

Battelle's Simon Tripp, who led the study, discussed quantitative and qualitative data on the benefits derived from North Carolina's unique 24-year history in bioscience investment. The 133-page report included research data as well as survey information from biotech stakeholders and CEOs of affiliated companies around the state.

"In the 21st century, which many have termed the Biocentury, biotechnology is expected to be a key engine of economic growth in the United States," said the executive summary of the study, Evidence and Opportunity -- Biotechnology Impacts in North Carolina.

"Battelle's an
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