GRAND RAPIDS ? More than 180 Michigan bioscience leaders gathered at Grand Valley State University for MichBio’s Annual Wednesday night. In his annual address, Stephen Rapundalo, Ph.D., MichBio president and CEO, said that Michigan’s biosciences industry is responsible for over 43,000 direct jobs and 56,000 indirect jobs, with an economic impact of about $10 billion.

“The biosciences are a cornerstone of our state’s economic future,? he said. “The Michigan ‘bio-industry equation’ is diverse and complex, and the phenomenal growth in Grand Rapids? life sciences eco-system is a significant part of that equation and an amazing story of vision and commitment,” Rapundalo said. “One only has to consider the West Michigan Medical Device Consortium, the internationally regarded Van Andel Research Institute, the MSU Medical School, all the companies at WMSTI – ClinXus, Avalon Labs, Sequenom, or the many companies in the city and region like Medbio, Grand River Aseptic, and so many of our exhibitors here tonight. (The West Michigan Science & Technology Institute) WMSTI is itself one of the state’s leading SmartZones.

“These kinds of assets are available throughout our state – from Detroit to St. Joseph, Ann Arbor to Lansing, Traverse City to Houghton, as major clusters or small nodes. Imagine them all being so well conceived and supported as the Medical Mile. That’s the vision of MichBio.”

Rapundalo said that Through growth in programs, information and referrals, group purchasing opportunities, and advocacy in Lansing and Washington over the past few years, MichBio is seeing the “Michigan bio-industry equation” begin to add up. He noted that MichBio has recently added UPS for shipping and Validation & Compliance Institute e-learning to its Preferred Provider Program, through which vendors offer MichBio members discounts on needed products and services. He noted that “one major company in the state saved just under $500,000 with our VWR program for procurement of laboratory supplies.”

In addition, “for the second year in a row, we’ve partnered up with the MEDC to co-host the MI Pavilion at the BIO International Conference in Chicago on May 3-6. My personal hope is that this kind of presence can be expanded, in time, to other market sectors like devices, as well as internationally.”

Turning to legislative issues affecting the industry, Rapundalo said, “Whether you’re a large company or emerging business, sooner or later changing legislation and regulations will impact your operations and bottom lines ? count on it. MichBio has been working aggressively over the last year on a myriad of legislative issues challenging the industry.”

He cited the Therapeutics Discovery Project Tax Credit, which will positively impact qualified emerging bio-pharma companies and will return capital to their R&D operations, and the biosimilars regulatory pathway provision that secured a 12-year period of data exclusivity for companies developing biologic treatments.

“The medical device industry is facing a major assault in the form of the Medical Products Tax that will seriously impact both established companies like Stryker, and in particular, threatens emerging company innovation,” he added.

At the state level, Rapundalo said MichBio was instrumental in the implementation of a Biosciences Legislative Caucus, now with over 50 participating legislators. ?Caucus events have provided excellent opportunities to educate legislators about our industry, its impacts on their districts and the Michigan economy, and the challenges we face in growing successful bioscience companies.

“Our crowning achievement in the last year was the formation of the House Subcommittee on Biosciences and Senate Task Force on Biotechnologies. We are the only state to have legislative groups in both chambers solely focused on issues relevant to our industry. Over the last four months, the House subcommittee held public hearings around the state, including here in Grand Rapids, to gather input from the state?s bio-community. MichBio has been tasked to distill that testimony into policy recommendations and legislative actions.”

Keynoting during the program was Mark Leahey, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Medical Device Manufacturers Association. Leahey discussed provisions of the Healthcare Reform Act that will impact the medical device industry, including a 2.3 percent excise tax on devices beginning in 2013, a Physician Payment Sunshine Act, an enhanced focus on comparative effectiveness research and payment reform. In addition, a looming issue with broad implications for the device industry is the FDA’s plan to overhaul the 510(k) approval process.

During his speech, Rapundalo noted that the MichBio Expo and Conference is set for October 26-27 at the Marriott at Eagle Crest in Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor and will include a robust program including the Emerging Biosciences Showcase, one-on-one business partnering meetings and a breakfast policy forum, manufacturing workshop, and track sessions on pharma, medical devices, emerging business and ag/bio-based technologies. Company tours, a poster session, hot innovations update and awards will also be part of this year?s Expo.

MichBio members elected five board directors to three-year terms. Newly elected were Dr. Jennifer Rice, Senior Scientific Officer at Neogen (Lansing), and Bill Worzel, Chief Executive Officer of Genetics Squared in (Ann Arbor). Re-elected to the board were Karen Studer-Rabeler, Vice-President of Business Development, Coy Laboratory Products (Grass Lake), David Zimmermann, Chief Executive Officer, Kalexsyn (Kalamazoo), and Dr. David Felten, Vice-President, Beaumont Hospital Research Institute and Associate Dean of Research, Oakland University/William Beaumont School of Medicine (Royal Oak).

For more information, click on MichBio.Org

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