State Biomedical Industry Offers New Directory
The state’s biomedical industry wants to do a better job of explaining itself.
In recent weeks, industry lobbyists have sent state and federal lawmakers hundreds of copies of a new directory of California companies and research institutions that develop and sell drugs, devices and other medical items.
“When we meet with political leaders and elected officials, they say, ‘How many companies are you talking about that are in my district?’ ” says David L. Gollaher, president and chief executive of La Jolla-based California Healthcare Institute, the industry lobbying group that compiled the directory.
“This is our effort to define an industry and say what these companies do, so a reader can flip through and see that what they all have in common is biomedical research and development,” adds Gollaher. Lobbyists will thump the directory this year as they press legislators to support funding for research and education and financing policies aimed at assisting the industry.
The 400-page guide, “California Biomedical Resource Directory,” begins with a forward by Gov. Pete Wilson that lauds the industry for helping to launch the “California Comeback” from economic depression a few years ago. It lists 2,000 organizations, including 75 academic and nonprofit research institutions.
Thus far, the trade group has distributed 1,300 directories, many for free. It sells them to members for $95 apiece and to nonmembers for $165. Buyers have included job seekers, consultants, universities, libraries and trade consultants from Korea, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and other nations.
Though biomedical companies say plenty of industry and scientific lists already exist, one more can’t hurt. The list includes Advanced American Biotechnology, a tiny Fullerton company that sells software used by genetic researchers. The company is mentioned in about 50 other nationwide directories.
But “the more, the merrier,” says its chief executive, Rasheed Zeineh, noting that such directories both attract customers and inform him about the industry.
