Life science research receives $12M
BYLINE: By Matt Murphy, Eagle Boston Bureau
BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick and leaders from both the House and Senate joined yesterday to announce the launch of a $12 million program for life science research grants to help foster job and business growth in that industry.
The immediate stimulus package could be a precursor to movement on the governor's 10-year, $1 billion life science initiative that should emerge from the House within the coming days.
Patrick, when asked how soon a compromise might be struck with the Legislature on one of his signature proposals, threw his arms around House Speaker Sal DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray at Massachusetts General Hospital.
"This is a preview of what you'll see in a few days time when we sign this bill into law," Patrick said, hinting at the cooperation taking place between the three leaders.
The new grant program will provide $12 million in matching grants to increase industry-sponsored stem cell, genomics and other research, attract and keep nationally known faculty at Massachusetts' colleges and help fund the research of new investigators working on life sciences.
The money will distributed through the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, created by the Legislature in a 2006 economic stimulus bill to bolster the life science industry. Initially funded with $10 million, the center received an additional $15 million from a 2007 supplemental budget.
"This area is hot. We have to celebrate the economic engine that the life science industry is today, but not take it for granted," Patrick said.
The life science sector has been growing 45 percent faster than any other industry in Massachusetts, according the governor.
The center expects to award up to five awards each for the cooperative research and new faculty startup grants worth up to $250,000 a-piece for up to three years. Another 132 awards will be made available for new investigators worth up to $100,000 a year for three years.
"We will be a national and international leader in biotechnology and our economy will reap the benefits," Murray said.
Patrick's life science bill would pump another $1 billion into the industry over the next 10 years, providing incentives for companies to locate or stay in Massachusetts and also creating the world's largest stem cell bank for research at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.