Group Seeks to Make County a Biotech Hotbed

Leaders in Ventura County, already home to Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, are hoping the creation of an industry advocacy group will help give the area marquee status as a hotbed of research and development.

Although still in the planning phases, the Biotechnology Institute Organization of Ventura County has set forth a broad agenda to advance the concerns of the area’s existing biotech firms and to attract more companies and workers to the county.

“There is tremendous vision behind this,” said Mary Pat Huxley, director of the Central Coast Biotechnology Center, who is heading the institute’s creation. “It’s going to be there to serve the needs of the industry, which speaks to the county’s maturity and commitment.”

In 1995, the county’s Economic Development Collaborative identified 10 emerging industries that it felt had the greatest growth potential and earmarked $20,000 to help establish so-called “industry clusters” to nurture their development.

Topping that list was biotechnology, which EDC officials believe could prove to be the keystone for the county’s continued economic success.

Although actual plans for the institute remain undetermined, Huxley said it would pursue several different avenues to strengthen the industry within the county.

One idea is that the institute would serve as a hub where local companies such as Amgen, BioSource International and Baxter Healthcare Corp. could identify industry trends and tailor their operations to meet those emerging needs.

Another is for biotechnology companies to take a more active role in the education of future workers. The companies hope to work closely with officials at the new Cal State Channel Islands campus to develop a curriculum that better serves their needs.

“An issue for a lot of companies has been finding qualified employees,” said Tim Osslund, a structural biochemist at Amgen who is part of the group creating the institute. “There are certain things companies look for, and that’s changing all the time. . . . With this I think we can identify what kind of skills people are going to need and have them get that kind of training.”

Perhaps the institute’s greatest function will be to market the county as an area brimming with cutting-edge biotechnology research in hopes of attracting more business and workers to the area.

For Ventura County, increasing the industry’s profile has a number of benefits.

With the overall economy in a state of flux, with new industries replacing obsolete ones, the rapidly growing biotechnology industry offers impressive potential.

Such growth brings jobs, generally well-paying, and expanding opportunities as the industry continues to develop.

“This technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, and there has to be a seed organization to direct the future of the industry,” said Zaki Salahuddin, director of the California Institute for Molecular Medicine in Ventura. “There is a lot of money to be had and plenty of opportunities out there for companies, but they need to work together to take advantage of it.”

The institute, which would operate as a nonprofit group, has already filed papers of incorporation, and officials hope to have it operating within the next few months.

However, they say it will take years for the real value and importance of such an organization to become apparent.

“We’re definitely looking at the long term with this,” Huxley said. “This isn’t something that’s going to come together next month. . . . We’re looking at 10 or 15 years down the line.”