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Biotechnology could thrive in Spokane- Success requires money, facilities, and businesses working together

Spokane might become a thriving biotechnology
center if area researchers, medical facilities and
business leaders can work together, a panel of
industry analysts said Wednesday.

Tom Sowa
Spokesman Review Staff writer

The panel — part of a forum on biotechnology at
Riverpoint Higher Education Park — concluded that
Spokane has potential to evolve into a center for
biotech companies that enrich the region with
good-paying jobs.

But getting there won’t be easy. The region needs a
coordinated game plan and a huge influx of federal
money to encourage area medical researchers.

Over time, the area could develop a medical
research base equal to Minnesota’s renowned Mayo
Clinic, one panel speaker said.

"There’s just as much excellence in some target
areas (of medical specialization) in this region as the
Mayo Clinic," said Simon Tripp.

Tripp, president of Tripp-Umbach & Associates, a
Pittsburgh-based consulting firm, just finished a study
of the Spokane area’s bioscience resources. His full
report will be released today during a presentation at
Riverpoint’s Health Sciences Building.

"When I started looking at Spokane, I had the opinion
this area ultimately needed a medical school" to
propel development in the biotech industry, Tripp told
a group of about 90 people.

"But I later concluded that’s not the case. A medical
school isn’t necessary for Spokane," Tripp said, and
it likely would never be possible because the state
doesn’t have the money to expand the University of
Washington’s medical school programs into Eastern
Washington.

Tripp’s survey determined the region has a
significant number of "first-rate" medical researchers,
but few of them are in the Spokane area.

"They’re mostly elsewhere — at the University of
Idaho, Washington State University in Pullman, and
at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories" in the
Tri-Cities, Tripp said.

What’s needed is a mechanism to coordinate those
efforts with expanded research at WSU Spokane.

WSU officials are seeking $6 million from Congress to
launch a WSU Spokane-based medical research
institute to study diabetes, which is one step in the
right direction, he said.

Among Tripp’s other findings:

• The Spokane region has a high concentration of
hospitals, medical clinics and related professions.
Within the health-care industry, the region has
expertise in cardiology, diabetes and informatics.

• The proximity of the federal labs in the Tri- Cities
provides world-class computers and scientists.
Spokane needs to build stronger research links to
that facility, he said.

• While the area has a core group of aspiring biotech
firms, those companies don’t see themselves as
allies in a collective endeavor.

"I was surprised to find how many companies this
area has," Tripp said after the session. "But most are
not interrelated. They’re not seeing how they can
work together."

In the long term, Tripp’s study suggests creation of
an umbrella group that would spearhead the biotech
initiatives.

Panelist Walter Plosila said Spokane’s ambitions are
similar to those in dozens of regions across the
country.

Forty-one states have increased their investments in
bioscience industries, said Plosila, vice president of
technology management for Battelle Memorial
Institute.

Roanoke, Va., and Peoria, Ill., are both building their
efforts around academic medical centers, Plosila
said.

Both cities, he said, are working with regional groups
and schools to pool research efforts and
entrepreneurs.

Spokane may not yet have a booming biotech
industry, but that would change if more research
dollars come this way.

"Once you reach a critical mass of research activity,
the impact is dramatic. Things will happen," he said.

Wednesday’s forum was sponsored by area law firm
Witherspoon, Kelly, Davenport and Toole, and by
biotech company Biomedex.

Business writer Tom Sowa can be reached at (509)
459-5492 or by e-mail at [email protected].

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=071102&ID=s1181418&cat=section.business

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