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September 2003
Biotech by any
other measure
Given the fickleness of measuring the biotech industry on the basis of
firms, other science-based measures might be useful proxies for how well
states are positioned in the fight to become a biotech or bioscience hub.
One possible gauge of the private biotech sector, with its research intensive,
multidisciplinary nature, is to look at the number of research and development
firms in engineering, and physical and life sciences. According to County
Business Patterns (compiled by the U.S. Bureau of the Census), Minnesota
heads the pack of district states with 178 such R&D firms as of 2001,
followed by Wisconsin with 128, Montana with a surprising 53, North Dakota
(20) and South Dakota (17).
But that's only part of the picture. The vast majority of
these firms employ only a few people in an office or lab; of the 396 such
firms in the five district states, 60 percent (236) had fewer than five
employees, and only 25 firms had more than 50 employees. However, they
appear to be ramping up; employment among these firms in both Minnesota
and Wisconsin increased at least 50 percent from 1998 to 2002, adding
1,000 jobs each.
It's also useful to look at the number of private-sector
scientists, including disciplines that would intersect bioscience applications.
The problem is that there is no category for scientists in biotech or
bioscience. Take a look at the number of life and physical scientists,
along with a subjective list of related fields, mostly biomedical, chemical,
material and environmental engineers. Growth in most district states appears
to have been as strong or stronger than the national average. But the
data is spotty enough that it's a hard measure to put much faith in.
But looking at the private sector, whether firms or employees,
is something of a finished product in terms of economic development. There
are other measures, like research funding and biological degrees conferred,
that allow us to peek at the biotech assembly line.
Most university science research funding comes from federal sources, specifically
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation
(NSF). Though neither organization has a biotech funding category, NIH
funding goes entirely toward biological sciences, and NSF has a similar,
though comparatively small, category.
Nationwide, NIH funding soared 128 percent from 1992 to 2002, to $19 billion.
All district states saw increases in funding, led in dollar terms by Minnesota,
which doubled its NIH funding to $351 million from 1992 to 2002; Wisconsin's
growth rate over the period was higher (at 119 percent) but overall funding
was lower ($316 million) compared with its westerly neighbor. Montana
quintupled its NIH funding to more than $25 million, while the growth
rate during this period in both Dakotas was higher still, with each state
pulling about $13 million in 2002.
NSF funding tells a different, if smaller, story. Nationwide, NSF funding
in its biological sciences sector increased almost 70 percent from 1996
to 2002. Minnesota's tally zigzagged up a bit for several years, but actually
saw a small funding decrease from 1996 to 2002 to $6.5 million. NSF biological
funding was also stagnant in the Dakotas. Meanwhile, Wisconsin's take
rose about 85 percent to $12 million, and Montana almost quintupled its
funding over this period to $3 million in 2002.
Biological science degrees are also a way to determine if district states
are generating the workers necessary to sustain a bio-economy. Nationwide,
the number of degrees in biological sciences has seen something of a boom-and-bust
cycle (see top chart). The 1990s saw a boom, with the number of annual
degrees (bachelor's, master's, Ph.D.) rising from about 45,000 in 1990
to 73,000 in 2000, an increase of 62 percent, though the number has tailed
off recently.
A similar growth trend has occurred in district states. South Dakota outperformed
the nation in terms of biological science degrees, more than doubling
its output from 1990 to 2000, though it also saw lower numbers in the
subsequent two years and has the smallest pool of such graduates in the
district. North Dakota saw an increase of 79 percent from 1990 to 2002,
while Minnesota followed at 72 percent during this period. Though same-year
data were not available, Montana and Wisconsin also had increases of more
than 50 percent over a slightly shorter time frame.
—Ronald A. Wirtz
Public Affairs intern Marissa Benson provided research assistance.
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