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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.
An innovative state won't just happen
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Charleston Daily Mail
Editorial
January 29, 2014
WANT to see what West Virginia's economy may look like in the future? You can get a glimpse of future products and services at the state Capitol today, as more than 45 exhibitors will display their efforts to create a more innovative and entrepreneurial state economy.
More future job creators will be in the Capitol hallways on Thursday for Undergraduate Research Day, when about 100 students from the state's colleges and universities showcase their scientific research.
Whether today's exhibitors and those 100 students, and many others like them, stay in West Virginia may depend on how well the state develops a culture that supports innovation and entrepreneurship.
While the state has long relied on large industries - energy, chemical, health care, government - the visitors to the Capitol this week are working to broaden the state's employment base.
"It doesn't take someone smart to be an innovator," said Mark Bates, M.D., founder and CEO of Nexeon Medical Systems. "You just have to have a work ethic and a passion for your work."
Doctor/inventor encourages W.Va. entrepreneurship
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Charleston Gazette
January 28, 2014
by Caitlin Cook
Business editor
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hurricane native Dr. Mark Bates was working as a disc jockey after high school when he developed his first invention. He wanted a laser light show for dances he worked. So he invented one.
More than 60 U.S.-issued and pending patents later, Bates believes there are other potentially successful entrepreneurs in West Virginia.
"There are some really bright people here, and we need to come together and understand that we can make a difference working together," Bates said. "It's that long-standing history of curiosity and solving problems."
Register Today for the 4th Annual West Virginia Bioscience Summit!
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Click Here to Register!
Registration is now open for the 4th Annual WV Bioscience Summit, to take place on Tuesday, January 28th from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Charleston, West Virginia. Additionally, an opening reception will be held the evening before – Monday, January 27th beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Embassy Suites – to provide members of the life science industries an opportunity to network with West Virginia policy and opinion leaders.
This event will highlight the role and impact of the bioscience industry in West Virginia and the region, showcase research and commercialization efforts taking place at West Virginia universities and private companies, and discuss policies and programs to help nurture the industry.
The agenda and presenter information will be announced once finalized, but key topics will include policies and programs to grow the industry, university research ready for commercialization, WV bioscience company highlights, among others.
This event will bring together West Virginia's bioscience community – private companies, university researchers, suppliers and funders – as well as policy and opinion leaders, economic developers and others to learn more about how we successfully grow and nurture this important industry in West Virginia.
The event is being sponsored by BIO, PhRMA, Amgen, Fisher Scientific, Sanofi, the WV Small Business Development Center and TechConnect West Virginia. BioWV also receives funding through a grant by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available, as is exhibit space. For additional information, contact Bryan Brown at (304) 546-5500.
The cost to attend the event – which includes admission to the conference, the evening reception on Jan. 27 and lunch on Jan. 28 – is $25 for members, $50 for nonmembers and free to students.
We look forward to seeing you in Charleston on January 27-28, 2014 for the 4th Annual West Virginia Bioscience Summit!
Click here to register!