Cheering the Biosciences in West Virginia

Derek Gregg, chairman of the Bioscience Association of West Virginia and CEO of Vandalia Research, had a great oped in the Charleston (VA) Gazette. Mr. Gregg is excited by the opportunities that the biosciences and biopharmaceutical research are starting to provide for the people of West Virginia. He clearly understands the potential to both help save lives and create good jobs in West Virginia:

"Bioscience products combat debilitating and rare diseases, reduce our environmental footprint, feed the hungry, use less and cleaner energy, and use safer, more efficient industrial manufacturing processes. Currently, there are more than 250 biotechnology drugs available to patients, many of which are for the treatment and/or cure of previously untreatable diseases. Growing a successful regional bioscience industry begins with good universities that attract talented and ambitious researchers and students. That leads to research funding, which promotes the advancement of new discoveries. Those discoveries can be commercialized through spinout companies. These enterprises then grow into larger companies that provide high-paying jobs."

Like his counterparts in Indiana, Mr.Gregg - and his fellow thought leaders in West Virginia - gets it. The biosciences and biopharmaceutical research can be an engine both for improving health and improving the economy.