(Source: Business Wire)
"It's an exciting time to be a bioscience company in Colorado, and the state is continuing to garner the national attention it deserves for its top-notch bioscience industry," said John Collar, President and CEO of the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA). "FierceBiotech highlighted Colorado as one of its top five biotech regions, and The Money Tree Report, recently released by Genome Technology, listed Colorado in its top 10 Venture Capital deals for both biotech and medical device and equipment."
Colorado's success at attracting venture capital was demonstrated earlier this month when Boulder-based Clovis Oncology, Inc. announced an impressive $145 million in start-up funding at its company launch. Clovis is focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing innovative anti-cancer agents in the U.S., Europe and additional international markets. The company is founded by former executives of Pharmion Corporation, which was acquired by Celgene Corporation in 2008 for $2.9 billion.
"We are so very pleased that the former Pharmion team has chosen to remain in the state and headquarter their new company here. With the experience behind them and the success of the business model from Pharmion, the bioscience industry and Colorado will be keeping a close, and proud, eye on this new start-up," Collar says.
FierceBiotech Rankings
Colorado was selected as a top five biotech region in the "Top 5 North American Regions Targeting Biotech Companies 2009" special report from FierceBiotech in May. Each year, FierceBiotech reviews economic development reports and finds new initiatives that will have a positive impact on the bioscience industry in that region, and in 2008 Colorado was named a top 5 region along with Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York and Ontario.
FierceBiotech discussed the importance of having Nobel laureate Tom Cech return to his practice at the University of Colorado at Boulder after ten years as president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The excitement behind Dr. Cech's return to the state will foster talent and growth within the bioscience industry, but the article pointed out that it will take more than talent to make this happen.
"And state lawmakers recognized that when they passed a bill last year that will fertilize a nascent biotech cluster with $26.5 million in state money¦Now, $26.5 million can't compare to the kind of money that California, Massachusetts,Florida and others have already spent fostering biotech.
