CICP News & Updates

Congratulations are in order for the team at BioCrossroads, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary this week as CICP’s initiative focused on the state’s life sciences sector. It’s been a decade of great success for the organization, ably led by David Johnson and the rest of his team – BioCrossroads was CICP’s first foray into launching subsidiary initiatives to catalyze growth in promising economic clusters, and it has established a model that has won national (even international) attention for how a cluster initiative should operate in pursuing new business opportunities and addressing broad challenges like human capital and risk capital needs.

To quote from BioCrossroads’ 2011 annual report:

“2011 was another milestone year for BioCrossroads and Indiana’s life sciences industry. More companies were formed and funded; more pharmaceutical and medical device products made their way from Indiana into the global marketplace; more and better data tracked the development of our sector; and more recognition came to our community as a regional hub of America’s life sciences industry – an industry with a $44 billion total impact on Indiana’s economy.

“For the first time, we identified, organized and analyzed a wide range of nationally significant indicators through a landmark study, authored by Walter H. Plosila, Ph.D., a globally recognized expert on developing life sciences clusters and initiatives, and based on data gathered by the Indiana Business Research Center at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

“The results illustrate a decade of substantial growth and measurable progress for Indiana’s life sciences sector, including the state’s rank as the third highest exporter of life sciences products in the U.S. ($9.1 billion), behind only California and Texas; a 21% increase in life sciences employment since 2002, adding more than 8,800 new jobs to the industry; and a total sector employing more than 50,000 workers across 825 companies…

“One of 2011’s most gratifying moments came in August, when the Wall Street Journal, in an article appropriately titled ‘Where the Action Is,’ singled out Indianapolis as one of seven “new industry hubs” for start-ups across the country – and the only one to make the list in the life sciences. Our sector is at last beginning to get the national attention it deserves.”