Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and BioHealth Innovation, Inc. Announce Key Findings of BioHealth Index for Central Maryland

BALTIMORE and ROCKVILLE, Md., April 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (EAGB) and BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) officially released the BioHealth Innovation Index for Central Maryland at the Second Annual Regional BioTech Forum, which took place April 18 and 19 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Index is a comprehensive analysis of the biohealth industry highlighting the region's strengths, along with those areas that present opportunity for economic growth.

The Index will serve as a guide for the continued development of Maryland's booming biohealth region, by pinpointing key opportunities for future growth to accelerate the region to the top three biotech hubs in the U.S. by 2023.

According to BHI CEO Rich Bendis, who also serves on the Governor of Maryland's Life Sciences Advisory Board, "This index both confirms the region's standing, while also shedding light on what it will take to raise our spot among the top three biotech/biohealth hotbeds in the country. Our region is attracting new and innovative companies at unprecedented speeds. This Index reflects such innovation occurring in Greater Baltimore and Central Maryland, and provides a platform on which to develop a strategic analysis relevant to other U.S. markets such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham, San Diego and San Francisco."

The Index reveals that the Greater Baltimore and Central Maryland region has laid a strong foundation for the biohealth industry. The opportunity exists for professionals in the region's industry to capitalize on the market's leadership in early-stage research and development to commercialize more novel technologies and build more robust ecosystems that generates new companies and jobs. Other key findings from the Index include:

• Concentration of Workers & Level of Education: The region has 19 percent more BioHealth workers than average and is tied with New York for #1 among peer markets.
• R&D: The region has three times the average of R&D professionals.
  • Hopkins receives the second most funding in the U.S. for life sciences R&D.
  • Universities in Greater Baltimore receive more than $1.7 billion in BioHealth R&D, the second greatest expenditure among peer markets.
• Capital: $1.06 billion in venture investment in BioHealth from 2010-2014.
• Entrepreneurship: Maryland ranks seventh in start-up efficiency with an average of more than $140 million of federal research required to generate one startup.

"This region has become a significant biohealth/biotech cluster. With most of the world-class health institutions and universities in our backyard, it offers a unique location for the expansion of continued biohealth innovation. The fact we are ranked number one in the concentration of talent serves as a tremendous launching point as we endeavor to become a top three market in the U.S.," states EAGB CEO Tom Sadowski.

The region is home to key biohealth assets like Johns Hopkins University and the University System of Maryland, 70 federal research facilities including the National Institutes of Health, and more than 800 life sciences companies. As a result, Central Maryland's BioHealth workforce is substantial and densely concentrated. Recently, more programs have launched to encourage more commercialization of technology, and life sciences companies like WellDoc have had success with IPOs and raising venture capital.

The Economic Alliance, BHI and Johns Hopkins University were catalysts for forming the first health technology accelerator program, DreamIt Health in Baltimore to capture the significant opportunity for startups in the city. DreamIt Health Baltimore supported two successful cohorts of 15 companies, helping them pilot implementation projects, identify customers and investors, and in some cases, open office space in Baltimore.  Successful companies that have spun out of DreamIt include Protenus, Avhana and Sisu Global Health.

Additionally, BHI has designed other strategies to enhance the local biohealth ecosystem. BHI has built the first of its kind partnership to place Entrepreneurs-In-Residence within the National Institutes of Health. It has supported the creation, spin-off or progression of 45 regional biohealth startups and early-stage companies in less than four years since the organization formed in 2012.  

BHI also invested in Montgomery County's first health tech accelerator, Relevant Health that graduated its cohort of companies in March.  

The full BioHealth Innovation Index for Central Maryland can be found at: http://www.greaterbaltimore.org/biohealth.aspx

The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore is a not-for-profit economic development organization led by a partnership of regional business executives, elected government officials and leaders from higher education focused on fostering business retention and development, job creation, workforce development and new investment throughout the Greater Baltimore region. The region is defined as Baltimore City and its seven surrounding counties: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Cecil County, Harford County, Howard County and Queen Anne's County. The Economic Alliance markets Greater Baltimore, and establishes global recognition for the Greater Baltimore area, as a world-class region in which to live, work, learn and invest. More information can be found at www.greaterbaltimore.org.

BioHealth Innovation, Inc., is a regional innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant bio-health innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland. BHI is known for providing commercial assistance to scientists and founders, educating and infusing Maryland's life science community with new and young entrepreneurs and fueling startups within Central Maryland's bio-ecosystem by connecting young companies to funding and business resources. Learn more at www.biohealthinnovation.org.

SOURCE BioHealth Innovation, Inc.

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http://www.biohealthinnovation.org