Volume 16, No. 3, Summer 2008
By Senate President Therese Murray
Opportunity and hope just got bigger in Massachusetts–the opportunity to grow businesses and encourage new industry, and hope for new medical treatments and cures. That’s what the state’s new $1 billion life sciences package will bring to our already rich environment of scientific curiosity, collaboration and innovation.
Signed into law in June, it is historic in size and scope–with $250 million in tax credits, another $250 million in direct research grants and an additional $500 million in capital investments–and it puts Massachusetts on course to lead the way in the life sciences revolution.
In fact, just after the bill was signed into law, the Governor, the House Speaker and I attended the annual international biotechnology summit in San Diego. Officials from all 50 states and 20 countries gathered to compete for business from the world’s leading life sciences companies. I am proud to report that Massachusetts was the buzz of the convention. New companies already have been announced, and other agreements are in the works.
With competition from other states like California and North Carolina–as well as other nations including Japan, India and China–the Legislature and the Administration made the commitment a year ago to capitalize on the Commonwealth’s greatest assets to become the frontrunner in this new and exciting century of the life sciences.
Of course, we started from a very strong position with our long tradition of world-class medical centers, universities, and a diverse and educated workforce.
We even had a Nobel Prize winner last year from our own UMass Medical School in Worcester, Dr. Craig Mello, a brilliant researcher doing groundbreaking work in genetic expressions that could one day lead to a cure for serious illnesses like cancer and juvenile diabetes.
With such a history and solid foundation, the addition of our benchmark life sciences initiative makes our state the ideal choice for researchers and companies to grow and conduct new work that will push treatment and medical discoveries to a whole new level.
Massachusetts leadership believes in this industry. And we believe in what our state has to offer, which stretches far beyond our political will.
We have established and dedicated advocates like the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center who are promoting the life sciences and helping companies make smart investments.
We have MassDevelopment, the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development which already do so much work creating opportunities for companies in all sectors, streamlining the permitting process and helping businesses grow.
That’s in addition to our life sciences clusters in Boston and Cambridge, and other areas across the state with growing concentrations of research and development, and the infrastructure to support them.
We already have more than 400 biotech companies doing business across the Commonwealth, and have more than 120 colleges and universities committed to life sciences studies and programs.
Massachusetts has the country’s top five National Institutes of Health-sponsored hospitals. And, with funding authorized in our life sciences legislation for development of the world’s largest stem cell bank at our state medical school, we will provide an unprecedented and invaluable tool for researchers everywhere.
Massachusetts has it all – the history, the culture, the commitment to excellence in health care, research and education, the educated workforce to fulfill your companies needs, and the financial incentives to keep Massachusetts ahead of the pack.
Our life sciences package and our working partnerships in government, business and academia are proof that we expect to be the worldwide center and new frontier of the life sciences industry.
(Senator Murray, D-Plymouth/Upper Cape, is the first female President of the Senate in Massachusetts history.)
By Senator Rob O’Leary
I was happy to vote recently in favor of the 10-year $1 billion spending bill for the state’s burgeoning life sciences industry, which the Governor signed into law June 16. Historic in size and scope, this highly-anticipated legislation creates a new environment for the future economy with incentives for job growth, research, and development that will secure the Commonwealth’s position as a leader in biotechnology.
I believe that this piece of legislation has the potential to impact our economy here in the Commonwealth in really positive ways.
On the Cape, the inclusion of marine biology and technology in the bill opens up a whole new set of resources to our world renowned marine research facilities. The 10-year initiative includes $250 million in tax credits for life sciences companies that promise to create jobs in the Commonwealth and $250 million for direct research grants to encourage the best and brightest in the industry to conduct research in Massachusetts. It also includes $500 million in capital investments for construction and improvement projects in the industry.
I am especially pleased with the economic development package in the bill which takes a targeted approach to growing high-paying, quality jobs, drawing biotech companies to Massachusetts, and retaining talented scientists and researchers at state institutions. I worked hard with my Senate colleagues to make sure the bill included some benefits to the Cape Region and I am pleased about the $10 million funding authorization for The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and the Regional Technology Development Corporation (RTDC) in Woods Hole.
The funds will be used for infrastructure improvements at MBL to expand capabilities in research and education. Together with funding from federal research grants and private philanthropy, and in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, the funds will help establish a center for regenerative biology and medicine at MBL’s Woods Hole campus. In collaboration with the RTDC, a portion of the funds will also be used to help promote technology transfer and the creation of new companies based on new life sciences technologies.
This research can end up having a tremendous impact on health among humans.
Take one question posed to me: “If starfish can grow back their arms, why can’t we?”
And already there have been numerous discoveries from marine labs that have improved our lives--from poison-identifying properties in horseshoe crab blood, to regenerative cell growth in single celled organisms.
This bill offers a truly amazing opportunity to combine job growth initiatives with the potential for ground breaking discoveries, all right here on Cape Cod.
(Senator O’Leary, D-Cummaquid, represents the Mid and Lower Cape and Islands and is a member of the Legislature’s Joint Public Health Committee.)
By Representative Cleon H. Turner
Most people on Cape Cod recognize how lucky we are to have a supply of drinking water that needs little treatment to be safe to drink. What many of us don’t know is that the water we drink, and fish we eat, may be contaminated by our medications that find their way into our drinking water.
The issue of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) polluting our water supply has become a nationwide health concern as they are increasingly detected in water samples, including those from Cape Cod estuaries. That’s because PPCPs do not dissolve easily they enter the soil and water via treated water, irrigation and reclaimed water. While it is unknown what all the potential heath effects are of these substances when ingested in small amounts, many of them like hormones, steroids and antibiotics were designed to impact the body at low doses.
The potential for PPCPs to act as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is particularly alarming. The endocrine system is a complex network of hormones and glands that regulate growth, maturation, and reproduction. Endocrine disruptors are synthetic chemicals that either block or mimic natural hormonal processes.
The fear that humans could be affected was heightened after several populations of male fish downstream from water treatment plants became feminized after exposure to low levels of estrogen. The human populations most likely to suffer negative health consequences include fetuses, children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. Neurological impacts, low sperm counts and antibiotic resistance also may potentially be linked to PPCP/EDC exposure.
These substances enter water supplies through improper disposal of medications, human excretion of un-metabolized drugs, and industrial uses such as animal feedlots. These chemicals cannot be removed by septic systems, and most water treatment plants were neither designed nor intended to remove these synthetic compounds.
Detectable levels have been found in drinking water systems on the Cape. Those relying on wells for water are especially vulnerable to PPCP pollution as the Department of Environmental Protection does not require testing on private water supplies. Communities in close proximity to hospitals, nursing homes, and veterinary clinics also are at an increased risk of exposure as these substances have been shown to travel up to a mile in groundwater.
Efforts currently are underway to define the scope of the problem, identify the main sources, and examine possible technical and policy solutions. Weaknesses on both the federal and state levels in regulation and monitoring water supply quality could be improved with proposed legislation. Clean Water Action has backed Senate Bill 2292, which would establish a Special Commission on Water Infrastructure that would help water districts statewide with a long term financial plan to implement the necessary changes.
Pollution prevention and toxic use reduction also are being explored. Establishing “take back” programs at pharmacies to discourage improper disposal of drugs also could lessen the amount of PPCPs that enter our water supply.
The legislature has placed a high priority on identifying practical, cost-effective, and environmentally sound policy solutions to protect the health of you and your families from the potential threat of PPCP pollution in our drinking water.
(Representative Turner, D-Dennis, is a member of the Legislature’s Joint Public Health Committee.)