Chicagoland's greater metropolitan area of 7 million inhabitants makes it, after New York, one of the most important business and cultural centers in the United States. The Chicago area has a gross regional product of $303 billion annually- larger than either Switzerland or Taiwan. Chicago's O'Hare airport is the busiest U.S. airport with direct flights to most major international cities.

Chicago and the Midwest has traditionally been the "second" hub of the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry, with major companies such as Abbott Labs and Baxter International headquartered here, and Eli Lilly in nearby Indianapolis. Although the pharmaceutical ranks have been thinned due to recent mergers (Upjohn in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and G.D. Searle in Chicago were both acquired by Pharmacia), the arrival of two major Japanese pharmaceutical companies to the U.S., Takeda and Fujisawa, to establish a stronger U.S. presence with a U.S. headquarters in Chicago has solidified this hub. Motorola, a well-known hi-tech player, has also branched into the interface of this technology with biotechnology. Chicago is home to 35 of the Fortune 500 companies in the U.S.

More recently, this pharmaceutical hub has been supplemented by a growing biotech industry and community in the region estimated to currently number more than 50 companies, of which eight are publicly-traded. Chicago's entry into the biotech arena has lagged behind other key cities such as Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, etc., but is quickly catching up. Add to the fact that many of the leaders of the major East and West Coast biotech companies came out of senior executive positions at Abbott, Baxter and Searle. Chicago's current swatch of biotech companies include genomics, proteomics, drug delivery, cancer therapy, diagnostics, bioinformatics and food and environmental biotechnologies.

Academic and Medical Excellence - institutes of higher learning

Chicago boasts some of the leading research and medical institutions in the United States with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory, University of Illinois-Chicago, Loyola Medical School, Finch University- Chicago Medical School, and the Fermi National Accelerator Lab (operating the world's highest energy particle accelerator). Argonne operates the $20 billion advanced photon source, a key tool for protein and proteomics research.

The Chicago area has over 90 hospitals, 8 of which rank in the U.S. Top 20 for a specialty. The Illinois Medical District is home to Rush-Presbyterian -St. Luke's Medical Center, University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, Cook Country Hospital, the Federal VA Chicago Medical Center and 40 other healthcare institutions. It also houses the Chicago Technology Park an incubator for over 30 biotech and hi-tech companies. With over 12,000 physicians, the Chicago area has the nation's largest medical community. The University of Chicago has 75 Novel Prize winners, more than any other American University.

Biotechnology Networking

Two organizations were established in recent years to promote, develop and create a private and public sector infrastructure to support regional biotechnology: the Illinois Biotechnology Association (IBIO) and the Chicago Biotechnology Network Association (CBN). Both organizations work with each other and are integrating many of their activities. IBIO is the Illinois link to BIO, the national biotechnology association headquartered in Washington, and is focused on developing city and state initiatives to attract and stimulate a growing biotechnology community focused not only on human medicines but food and agricultural biotechnology given downstate Illinois's key role in these important sectors in the U.S.

CBN is the umbrella organization for all biotech activity in Chicagoland, and recently attracted 500 participants to its 3rd annual BioMarketplace in October, 2001, an investor and business development conference, where 20 biotech companies presented their story to the community. CBN has over 150 member organizations, including companies interested in supporting the biotech community.

Leading Chicago biotech companies include: NeoPharm (cancer products), Northfield Labs (blood substitutes), Vysis (genomic diagnostics), Medichem (combinatorial chemistry), ImmTech (antimicrobial therapy), Endorex (drug delivery), Integrated Genomics (genomics), Anigenics (veterinary biotech). Additionally a number of state and municipal organizations assist biotech companies in their start-up development activities, including the Illinois Coalition, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, World Business Chicago, and the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors.

Life Sciences Opportunities Abound in Michigan

Regional Promotion: Doug Rothwell, chairman of the Life Sciences Steering Committee

Michigan is increasingly becoming synonymous with aggressive life sciences growth. The $1 billion Michigan Life Sciences Corridor (MLSC) has become a catalyst for the industry, producing collaborations between academic and commercial sectors and demonstrating that the state has more to offer than its traditional image may lead you to believe.

Last year, more than 500 proposals competed to gain a portion of Michigan's life sciences funding. After careful review, the state funded more than 60 life sciences projects -- all with a Michigan tie.

A wide range of assets present in the state support the life sciences successes seen in Michigan. The combination of over 300 life sciences companies, world class research at universities and private centers such as the Van Andel Research Institute, rapidly growing venture capital funds and state support have pushed Michigan into the forefront as a great biotech state.

Just two years into this 20-year Life Sciences Corridor initiative, results are already beginning to appear: Pharmacia, Pfizer and Perrigo all maintain major research centers in Michigan, with Pfizer recently negotiating a land deal to expand its Ann Arbor operations.

The creation of the Core Technologies Alliance, consisting of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the Van Andel Research Institute, provides essential infrastructure for Michigan.

This will create five centers of excellence in genomics, proteomics, animal modeling, bioinformatics and structural biology. These centers will be situated in research institutions across the state and available for Corridor members to use.

Michigan's eventual goal is to propel the state from a top 10 life sciences state into the prestigious top five. With a $1 billion commitment and strong backbone of life sciences firms and employees, Michigan seems to be well on the way to achieving that goal.

For more information about Michigan's life sciences opportunities, visit the website at www.michigan.org

Spotlight on the MidWest

We would like to use this opportunity to thank the Universities, Institutes and Companies in the MidWest bio-region for participating in this Spotlight.

We would also like to acknowledge the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Chicago Biotechnology Network Association for contributing to the regional promotion.

Thank you,

  • Peyton Mason

  • Naturejobs Sales Manager

  • p.mason@natureny.com

  • Eric Wurtenberg

  • Midwest Academic Representative

  • e.wurtenberg@natureny.com

  • Peter Bless and Michael McGillion

  • Midwest Corporate Representatives

  • p.bless@natureny.com

  • m.mcgillion@natureny.com