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From The Morning Call -- July 20, 2005 Study finds Valley good for biotech Boyd Group measures cost of operating plants in different regions. Of The Morning Call The Lehigh Valley is one of 60 current and emerging areas for the biotech industry. So says the Boyd Group, a relocation consulting firm that plans to meet with corporate planners from biotech companies Thursday in Bethlehem. Officials from Boyd of Princeton, N.J., will meet with a small group of clients and prospective clients to share the results of its study that compares the costs of operating a biotech plant or research center in a variety of locations, including the Lehigh Valley. A summary of the study says it would cost between $15.7 million and $17 million annually to operate a 100,000-square-foot, 200-employee biotech or pharmaceutical facility in the Lehigh Valley, not including startup and relocation costs. In Philadelphia, a similar facility would cost between $17.3 million and $18.2 million to operate, the study says. In San Francisco, where many biotech firms have gotten their start, those costs jump to between $19.4 million and $22.4 million annually. Attendees at the Boyd meeting will include officials from biotech and pharmaceutical firms in the Northeast. Boyd helps companies select geographic areas for additional work sites or relocations. One of its main biotech clients is Mayne Pharma, an Australian pharmaceutical firm with an operation in Paramus, N.J. John A. Boyd Jr. said his firm is not working with any companies in the Lehigh Valley but it does have some clients considering the area for a possible move. Boyd said companies that move to the Lehigh Valley can tell workers they can ''buy a bigger home for your dollar, and your cost of living will be far less than where you are currently living,'' said Boyd, who will hold the meeting at the Holiday Inn in Bethlehem. The meeting is one of several the firm is holding with clients and potential clients to promote the study. Other cities emerging as possible biotech centers in the mid-Atlantic region are Rochester, N.Y., and Pittsburgh. The full report, which does not rank the cities, was not available Tuesday. Cost is becoming the prime motivator for biotech and pharmaceutical companies that are considering a move, he said. Boyd said some areas of California and New Jersey have become so expensive that young workers cannot afford to live near where they work. Those areas also are costly from an operating perspective for the company. By contrast, the Lehigh Valley has developed a reputation as a cheaper alternative to New Jersey and Philadelphia, particularly for warehouse and logistics operations. Local economic development officials have been courting biotech firms from outside the area. Representatives of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. and Ben Franklin Technology Partners attended the annual convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a national trade group, last month in Philadelphia. The Lehigh Valley is home to about 68 firms that are involved in some way with biotech, according to the LVEDC. The largest in Lehigh and Northampton counties is B. Braun Medical, which employs about 2,000 in Allentown and Bethlehem. The company, which makes products such as safety needles and drug delivery systems, has boosted its local employment by 40 percent in the past two years and is the fastest-growing among the Lehigh Valley's large companies. Local companies active in research include OraSure Technologies of Bethlehem, maker of tests for diseases and substance abuse, and Calcigen Corp. of Bethlehem, which is developing methods of making specialty biochemicals. But the definition of biotech is hard to pin down. The Biotechnology Industry Organization calls biotech ''a collection of technologies that capitalize on the attributes of cells and biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins.'' Biotech companies work on everything from cancer treatments to cleaner industrial processes, using the map of the human genome and other molecular knowledge. However, the ''hot'' term is often used generically to refer to companies in life sciences and pharmaceuticals. The Boyd Group's report is tailored not only to biotech but also to pharmaceutical and life science firms. The 68 firms that the LVEDC cites as biotech concerns include packaging firms and warehouse operations that supply the industry. One such local operation is Sharp Corp., which makes a variety of packaging items for pharmaceutical companies, including pill bottles and pouch packaging for ointments and powders. The Upper Macungie contract packaging firm bought its plant in the township from Keebler in 2003. The facility has 28 sterile ''clean'' rooms for different product lines, and employs about 300 full-time and temporary workers, said Tom Deutsch, director of human resources. The Lehigh Valley is not home to many pure research biotech firms that employ scientists here. Boyd acknowledges that fact but says it could change. Boyd said the Lehigh Valley has recruitment possibilities, particularly with the presence of universities such as Lehigh University. ''The Lehigh Valley shows well in this study,'' Boyd said. Some of the local companies that do perform research in this field have often received assistance from Ben Franklin, which provides loans and low-cost office space to startup firms. It has worked with firms such as Bio Med Sciences of Fogelsville, which developed a proprietary blend of silicon and Teflon called silon that is used by burn victims as temporary skin. Pfizer licenses Bio Med's synthetic polymer for its Neosporin ScarSolution, which treats scars. Mark Dillon, president of Bio Med, can see why the Boyd Group would suggest this area to biotech firms. He said the Lehigh Valley is strategically located near major companies in the pharmaceutical and life sciences fields. On top of that, the area has a low cost of living. ''My selling price is not affected by where I am located, but my salaries are,'' Dillon said. jeanne.bonner@mcall.com 610-820-6539 Copyright © 2005, The Morning Call |