Press
2016 Bioscience Summit warned state research dollars drying up
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Today West Virginia’s universities are on the “cutting edge” of bioscience research, Dr. Jan Taylor told attendees at the 2016 West Virginia Bioscience Summit on the Marshall University campus April 26.
But Taylor, director of the Division of Science and Research at the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, said she was “apprehensive” about the future of the state’s bioscience research efforts. She cited a number of significant research projects at West Virginia University and Marshall and noted those projects have attracted significant federal funding because there was initial state “seed money” for them. Now those state dollars are drying up, she warned.
Bioscience summit brings together tech present, future
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HUNTINGTON - The future of bioscience in West Virginia looked bright Tuesday during the sixth annual West Virginia Bioscience Summit at Marshall University.
The event, conducted annually by the West Virginia Bioscience Association, highlighted the role and impact of the bioscience industry in West Virginia and the region, showcased research and commercialization efforts taking place at West Virginia universities and private companies, and provided an opportunity for state and local leaders to discuss policies and programs to help nurture the industry at the Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall.
Chemical makers contribute to school bio-tech program
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WV MetroNews
Chemical makers contribute to school bio-tech program
By Chris Lawrence in News | October 22, 2015 at 11:23AM
NITRO,W.Va. — Two of the Kanawha Valley’s leading chemical employers made a sizable donation to Nitro High School on Thursday. The $10,000 contribution from Dow Chemical and Bayer Crop Science will be used to transform a former home economics lab into a bio-technology lab.
“The money will be used to renovate that room and take out the old kitchenette and buying lab stations and other lab devices,” said Principal Jason Redman. “Students can get first hand knowledge of what’s really in a bio-tech lab.”
Battelle/BIO State Biosciences Jobs, Investments and Innovation 2014 – West Virginia
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West Virginia’s bioscience industry is seeing positive growth! According to the “Battelle/BIO State Bioscience Jobs, Investments and Innovation 2014 Report” released June 24, 2014 by Battelle and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), West Virginia’s bioscience industry grew 6.9 percent since 2007. Additionally, the industry employed nearly 6,400 workers in 2012 across 343 business establishments.
Some other key findings include:
- Drugs and pharmaceuticals, the state’s largest and most specialized industry subsector, helped drive these overall gains with 73 percent job growth since 2007.
- Employment in drugs and pharmaceuticals in West Virginia is considered to be specialized and is 98 percent more concentrated in the state economy relative to the national average.
- Annual wages for state bioscience workers are nearly $70,000, on average, and are 78 percent more than the overall private sector average.
- State patenting in the biosciences totaled 143 patents issued from 2009 through 2013 with a focus in surgical and medical instruments and in drugs and pharmaceuticals.
Biotech CEO suggests state foster innovation
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Charleston Daily Mail
January 29, 2014
by Jared Hunt
Daily Mail Business Editor
The founder of a medical device research and manufacturing company says West Virginia has a great potential to grow an innovative biotechnology industry in the state.
Dr. Mark Bates, founder and CEO of Nexeon MedSystems, was the keynote speaker Tuesday at the fourth annual West Virginia Bioscience Summit at the Embassy Suites hotel in Charleston.
Bates, a Hurricane native, was a professor of medicine and surgery at the West Virginia University Medical School in Charleston prior to founding the company nearly ten years ago.
Since then, his company has patented 25 medical devices for a variety of functions, including spinal cord injury therapy, nanotechnology, regenerative therapy and stem cell implantation. In addition to the patents obtained, the company has several more pending.