Massachusetts proposes $1B for life science research
This is making headlines across the country this morning. Many are comparing Massachusetts’s proposed $1 billion life sciences initiative to California's $3 billion for stem cell research, although the Massachusetts plan (announced yesterday at BIO by Governor Deval Patrick) is a lot more than just a stem cell plan. Here's how the Boston Globe describes it today:
Over 10 years, the state would issue $500 million in bonds to pay for capital investments at public institutions and other facilities. It would also spend $25 million a year on direct research grants and offer $25 million annually in tax credits to biotech companies that promise to create jobs in Massachusetts.
The administration, however, has not determined how much money would be dedicated to different areas of research or how much would be available to the private sector.
So it's not clear yet how much of that money would be for stem cell research. But overall, it's meant to make up for the shortfall in NIH funding and spur more commercialization of research.
In addition to the $1 billion in state funding, the plan calls for $250 million in matching funds from the private sector.
Part of the proposal includes the establishment of the Massachusetts Stem Cell Bank, estimated to cost $66 million. The Globe said eight MA hospitals and universities, including Harvard, have already pledged to deposit their stem cell lines. The goal is to make this stem cell bank the biggest in the world. UMass Worcester would receive $38 million for a new RNA interference research center, headed up by Nobel Laureate Craig Mello. (For more details, see here.)
