We all know Seattle likes to bill itself as the epicenter of global health these days.
There’s been lots of talk of global health as the next new “emerging industry,” but that’s still largely due to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the wealth it has spread locally among mostly non-profit organizations. Evidence of this “industry” growing in the typical for-profit, commercial sector has not been that significant.
But Clay Holtzman of the Puget Sound Business Journal thinks that may be changing, at least when it comes to biotech firms. As Clay says in his report “Biotechs Jump Into Global Health“:
Ever since it became apparent that Seattle is the new epicenter for global health due to the many nonprofit research centers here and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the question of what it means for local companies has been debated.
The conventional wisdom has been that the impact for companies was limited. Experts cautioned not to oversell the economic potential of global health in Seattle, primarily because there are no large-scale drug manufacturers here or research arms of major biotechs or pharmaceutical companies that would hire in large numbers.
But nonetheless, companies are finding opportunities, and the business community as a whole is awakening to the potential economic returns.
Read the entire article for Clay’s examples and evidence of this shift.