A string of high-profile announcements and a shower of media attention may be part of the reason Myriad Genetics is pushing ahead of the slowing economy. But the company is not alone. The horizon on biotechnology at the University of Utah and elsewhere appears clear.
In early October, Myriad’s announcement of promising anti-cancer research precipitated an increase in its stock value.
“That was a strong day on market, it’s been strong since then,” said Myriad spokesman Bill Hockett. “Since the low of September, we’re up probably 70 percent.”
Product sales have roughly doubling each year?and growth remains strong despite the nation’s economic downturn, he said.
“Though we’re not entirely immune to it, it really hasn’t effected business in any tangible way,” he said.
Over the next year, Myriad is looking to add more than 75 employees to its staff of 500.
Despite trepidations about the economy, Myriad’s success may not stand alone.
Other Research Park companies that translate life science research into drug therapies, genetic tests, microorganism detection systems and other products have been faring reasonably well so far.
Baldomero Olivera, a University of Utah biology professor, spent decades working with predatory marine snails. His work formed the basis for epilepsy and pain treatments under development by Cognetix, another Research Park company.
Founded five years ago, the company raised $18 million?enough to tide it over for a while, according to Brian Anderson, president and CEO.
“It honestly doesn’t really affect us at the present time,” he said. “That’s not to say it couldn’t affect us when we look for additional funding.”
It should be another five years or so before Cognetix will have its first treatments on the market.
Research at the U which often forms the basis for these projects faces a similar uncertainty.
The U receives approximately $170 million in funding for health-related research?more than half of its total research funding from federal and private sources, according to Ronald Pugmire, U associate vice president for research.
“It is a very aggressive and lively area of scientific research,” said Ray Gesteland, U vice president for research.
But Gesteland’s big concern is, with all the chaos in the world, the federal budget’s attention might turn elsewhere, he said.
“The National Institutes of Health increases that we’ve enjoyed over the last two years may be much less than we are used to,” he said.
In the 1999 fiscal year, U research formed the basis for 10 new companies?about half of them in the field of biotechnology, according to Chris Jansen, director of the U’s Technology Transfer Office.
The percentage of ideas that make it from the invention stage to become a product on the market is very small.
“It’s longer-term and more risky than, say, engineering fields but the payoffs are potentially larger,” she said.
It’s still early to forecast the economy’s effects on the biotechnology industry, she said.
The Technology Transfer Office works with almost 100 inventions seeking patents every year?more than half in biotechnology, she said.
She doubts the flow of ideas will slow.
Along with money worries, the post-Sept. 11 world has also brought anthrax scares, heightened fears of biological warfare and a whole new arena in which to develop technology, Gesteland said.
Idaho Technology, also a Research Park company, is already playing a role.
“One of our products is a biological weapons detection system, so there’s been quite a bit of need for that device,” said Randy Rasmussen, chief operating officer.
For several years now, Idaho Technologies has produced a method for detecting the presence of Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria responsible for anthrax.
Idaho Technology’s has developed a technique to rapidly copy and analyze genetic material from a microorganism. The company produces devices that can detect the AIDS virus in a person or salmonella in food.
Recent demand for the test, sold primarily to the government and military, has increased and so have company’ job postings, he said.
His experience indicates the industry tends to go through cycles, he said.
In the wake of human genomic research and other developments, public enthusiasm is high?strengthening the industry.