[Source: AdvanceWeb] – The state of Arizona may be a model for how states not traditionally known to be bioscience giants can pair basic and clinical science with industry to further healthcare goals, fuel economic development and push diagnostic lab technologies through clinical trials and to market faster.
In 2002, the state of Arizona launched the Bioscience Roadmap, a 10-year strategic plan to fast track Arizona toward national bioscience stature and a diversified economy. The plan is the result of findings from a study conducted by the Battelle Memorial Institute, a nonprofit organization, which described the need for increased public and private investments and collaboration between Arizona’s higher education, industry and nonprofit sectors. The effort has been supported in part by Proposition 301, which statewide voters approved in November 2000 that provides $1 billion over 20 years for scientific research at Arizona’s three public universities through the Technology Research and Initiative Fund. The Flinn Foundation, which sponsored the initial study, also committed a minimum of $50 million to advance Arizona’s bioscience sector over 10 years.
For more information: Arizona is banking on bioscience, translational medicine to fuel its economy