FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Aug. 2, 2004
Region's agricultural biotechnology cluster growing new jobs
Research Triangle Region, N.C. - Agriculture long has been essential to the Research Triangle Region's economy. Now the region's world-class concentration of scientific and agricultural expertise is creating high-paying jobs in the office and lab as well as in the fields.
"It's well established -- there is a cluster of biotech experts here in the Research Triangle Region," said Margaret Gadsby, head of governmental affairs for Bayer CropScience's BioScience business group for the NAFTA region. "We've had our biotech group here now for some time."
That is why agricultural biotechnology is one of 10 key industry clusters targeted by Staying on Top, a five-year, $5 million initiative of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership to create 100,000 jobs and boost employment in all 13 counties of the region.
"Certainly markets for today's products, which are focused very much on helping farmers grow crops effectively, are still growing in North America," Gadsby said. "As each country around the world subsequently gets its regulatory structure in place, it means the export markets also increase."
A World Center of Expertise
The agricultural biotechnology industry develops technology that protects crops and livestock from pests and makes them more efficient to grow. Innovations may increase crop yields or reduce the amount of watering needed, for instance. Companies also work to give agricultural products more desirable characteristics, making a nutritious canola more nutritious, for example.
Science is poised to use agriculture in entirely new ways - producing non-food, non-fiber products, such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, biomaterials and enzymes.
The Research Triangle Region boasts a major presence by three of the world's largest agribusiness companies -- Bayer CropScience, Syngenta Biotechnology and BASF as well as a wide range of key assets to support the creation of new agbiotech jobs, including:
- North Carolina State University's (NSCU) research program in agricultural biotechnology, one of the nation's largest, as well as strong research programs in statistics, biology, botany, chemistry, genetics, medicine, and engineering at NCSU, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University and other area universities.
- Programs that enable transfer of university R&D to the state's agricultural industry and NCSU's leadership role in efforts to facilitate commercialization of agricultural intellectual property.
- An entrepreneurial environment with ready access to investment capital and incubator infrastructure to nurture small start-ups, such as Athenix, Biolex, CropSolution and Paradigm Genetics.
- A large agricultural industry with leadership in poultry and hog production, providing commercial pathways for launching improved agricultural commodities.
- Novozymes (the world's largest manufacturer of industrial enzymes), Covance (a major contract manufacturer of recombinant proteins) and the research and product divisions of major pharmaceutical companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth-Lederle and Biogen.
Opportunities Will Only Increase
"It's well understood that the population is growing on planet Earth, and we have an increasing need over the next 20-30 years to keep food production high and avoid taking down additional Amazon rain forests and other marginal lands," Gadsby said. "If we can keep today's agricultural base and not expand it, we can secure the rest of the wild environment for future generations."
Strong growth is projected for both the traditional agricultural food and fiber markets and the new alternative product markets. Researchers are reaching significant milestones for advanced breeding using genetic maps and the development of livestock and poultry species with improved traits. At the same time, the market share of commodity agricultural products from genetically improved animals and plants has been steadily increasing.
Region Has Plans to Capitalize
The Research Triangle Region's Staying on Top initiative calls for a balanced approach of existing business retention, targeted recruitment and entrepreneurship to expand the industry. A key regional partner in this initiative, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, in February released its strategic plan of 54 recommendations to expand the biotechnology industry as a whole and create high-paying jobs.
For more information on the Staying on Top initiative and its efforts to expand the agricultural biotechnology industry, visit www.researchtriangleregion.org.
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