Shanghai Bio Forum
June 2, 2011
As Prepared
Zao Shang Hao. Good morning. It is an honor to join you here today in Shanghai. I especially want to thank Mr. Shen Xiaoming and Mr. Shou Ziqi.
By applause, how many of you in attendance are from China? Is there anyone from Guang-Joe? There is a neighborhood in my home City of Baltimore called Canton, which borrows its name from the original name of your City. In fact, ever since a ship named the Pallas first sailed from China into Baltimore Harbor, the Chinese people and the people of my State of Maryland have enjoyed a special bond.
Today, generations after Maryland-based financiers went into the China-Maryland trade business our relationship endures. China is Maryland’s 3rd largest export partner, and our 2nd largest import partner. Our region is home to one of America’s largest, and most vibrant Chinese American communities, with 63,000 people of Chinese heritage living in our State. Thirteen Chinese companies have operations in Maryland and more than 75 Maryland-based companies have operations in China. We are the home of North America’s first Confucius Institute, and the only Chinese research park in the United States commissioned by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Johns Hopkins University was one of the first American Universities to establish a permanent College education program in China. A Maryland owned company, W.R. Grace became the first wholly-foreign owned company to establish physical operations in China. And Maryland was the first U.S. State to establish a business development office in China.
Our two peoples have a strong relationship, and I came to China because we want to do more business with you.
Is there anyone with us from Ireland? There is an Irish poet by the name of Seamus Heaney, and I want to share with you just a few of his words:
So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge
Believe that a farther shore
Is reachable from here
Believe in miracles
And cures and healing wells.
There are some ideas which transcend country and perhaps even timeand space. Confucius taught that “benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity.” We are all here, presumably, because we believe in benevolence, we believe in Ren or what in the west we refer to as “the golden rule,” … we believe in the principles of De, …in leading by example, …we believe in the virtue of magnanimity that Confucius taught about,… and we believe in a great sea-change on the far side of revenge.
What’s more, we believe, in cures, we believe in healing wells, and we believe in the miracles of the life sciences and their potential to change for the better the way we feed, fuel, and heal our planet.
It is one of the great ironies of our times that the very immensity of the challenges we face with respect to pandemic flu, global warming, global terror, drought, hunger and poverty, is driving innovation in every sphere of science and technology, … particularly in the life sciences.
This innovation is creating jobs and expanding opportunity to peoples all over the globe who are willing to choose to make the right investments and the right decisions to advance it, to unlock it, and to unleash it. And in this changing new global economy, those countries and states that are able to make our children winners, will be those which succeed in leveraging the power of innovation to create jobs and expand opportunity to greater numbers of people.
I want to tell you a little bit about Maryland, about what we are doing to advance the life sciences in our State, and why we hope that you will choose to partner with us.
Choosing Maryland
We hope that you will consider joining the more than 300 foreign-owned companies that have operations in our State.
As the Marylanders who are with us will attest, our State is one of the most beautiful places on earth – from the beaches of the Eastern Shore – three hours east --to the Mountains of Western Maryland – three hours west (I admit I’m a little biased). We are often nicknamed “America in Miniature” and indeed we are a very diverse State – diverse in people, diverse in culture, and diverse in geography.
We are home to Baltimore, one of America’s great cities, and we are next door neighbors to Washington D.C. We are close to all major international embassies and home to a growing number of foreign nationals – and in fact, much of Washington’s professional and diplomatic community reside in our State.
Maryland has an excellent transportation infrastructure, which includes easy access to three major airports and a world class port. And thanks to our northeastern location, we’re only a quick train ride or flight to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.
Overall, no other state in America has the same combination of location, workforce, and world-class facilities:
Our public schools are ranked #1 best in America by the definitive American public education magazine. And the Milken Institute ranks us #1 for investing in our “human capital.”
Consequently, we have one of America’s most highly skilled workforces, which includes the most PHD scientists and engineers per capita, and the second most professional and technical workers per capita of any state in America.
In terms of higher learning and discovery, we are home to some of the world’s leading universities, including Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland. $12 billion in federal research and development monies flow into our public and private institutions each year.
Maryland is the gateway to one of the largest medical markets in the world - via the Food and Drug Administration, which is located in Maryland. In fact, we are home to all the federal government’s major research and regulatory agencies that are critically important for the development of new drugs and new therapies. These include the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Integrated Biodefense Campus. And that’s just the short list.
We are also home to 27 technology incubators, including an International Incubator which has partnered with 6 emerging Chinese companies to provide them with an array of business services, state-of the-art facilities, and world-class resources to help them thrive.
Just as we are diverse in our people and geography, we are diverse in our economy. Maryland is a leader in traditional industries like manufacturing as well as new economy sectors like biotech, cyber security and alternative energy:
We are ranked by the United States Chamber of Commerce as one of America’s 2 best states for innovation and entrepreneurship, by the Milken Institute as one of the Top 2 science and technology states, and by the Kauffman Foundation as one of 3 states best positioned to win in the new economy.
And Maryland is one of only eight states with a Triple A general obligation bond rating from the three major bond rating houses.
Maryland & The Life Sciences
The biosciences are one area where we are strongest. Maryland is home to the second largest per-capita cluster of bioscience companies in America, representing 8% of the entire U.S. industry. And, we’re home to one of America’s top three infectious disease research clusters in the United States. Often nicknamed the “home of the Genome” our scientists pioneered the Human Genome Project.
Marylanders and the companies for which they work, conduct cutting-edge biopharmaceutical discovery, research tools development, and medical diagnostics and device development. They create gene-based diagnostics, they work to integrate biologics and nanotechnology into medical devices, and they are developing innovative R&D technology platforms. What’s more, they are making revolutionary advances toward cures with new approaches to vaccine development.
At MedImmune, Marylanders created the first no-needle H1N1 vaccine, which is easier to administer to children,… At Novavax, Marylanders are producing the next generation flu vaccine that is able to adapt to changes in the strains of virus that can occur anywhere in the world,…. At Johns Hopkins, Marylanders are partnering with the Nanjing Institute and the Venter Institute on the first synthetic dividing cell,… and at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Robert Gallo is leading a team researching a promising new HIV vaccine.
Those of you who are from China may be interested to know that a number of top Chinese biopharma companies have operations in Maryland, including AscentGene and CellPath to Dycent Biotech and JOINN Labs.
Before I close, I wanted to give you just a few brief examples of some of the things we are doing to leverage our bio assets:
We are making a $1.3 billion investment in our life sciences sector through an initiative we call Bio2020.
We are using strategic, targeted job creation tax credits including a Biotechnology Tax Credit which incentivizes angel investment in early stage life science companies. We’ve invested $60 million in this initiative over the past five years. In addition, we have a Research & Development credit which we recently extended for the next decade.
We recently created a Maryland Biotechnology Center, which helps entrepreneurs gain access to critical capital.
Within the last couple weeks I signed legislation creating an initiative we call InvestMaryland, a $100 million tax credit designed to unlock at least $70 million in venture capital.
We have invested $80 million in the life-saving potential of Stem Cell Research. Today, Maryland is the world’s largest producer of adult stem cells, with biotech company Lonza distributing these life-saving cell therapies for clinical trials so that regenerative medicine will be available before the decade is out.
Conclusion
Whether you are based in China, Chile, or Canada, we hope that you will consider bringing your business to Maryland. And we look forward to seeing many of you in a few weeks at BIO 2011 in Washington D.C.
Xie Xie (“Shie – Shie”) Thank you
