04 May Madison is recognized as an emerging cluster in biotechnology
Two national publications have recently recognized Madison as an emerging biotechnology cluster. Biotech is so successful at attracting brainpower, related industries, and money to regions that today almost everybody is trying to get into the act. Obviously, some regions will fare better than others. Many of these clusters have formed because of local political interest. Having a leading research university in the region is also one of the mainstays of an emerging cluster.
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), a high-frequency publication dedicated to biotech news and introduced in 1981 as the first biotechnology trade publication described Madison as home to the University of Wisconsin, which has a strong life sciences program, and as a region that has a specialized job concentration in pharmaceuticals; medical devices; agricultural feedstocks, chemicals, and research; and testing and medical laboratories.
The other publication was GenomeWeb which is an online and print publisher that serves the global community of scientists, technology professionals, and executives who use and develop the latest advanced tools in molecular biology research. GenomeWeb’s guideline for choosing emerging clusters was to find areas that had very recently put significant effort into luring the biotech industry or encouraging biomedical research. They noted that Madison has made a biotech name for itself, largely in the medical device category and that the University of Wisconsin at Madison adds significant research strength, and the school’s tech transfer arm, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, is one of the best-known entities in the IP community.
Read Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) article here.
Read GenomeWeb article here