Sustaining Washington’s Leadership in Life Sciences
- Issuer
- Congressional materials
- Document type
- 2025 03 28 A33163 D286465 Life Science Washington Sustaining Washington S Leadership I
- Date
- 2025-03-28
- Case
- 2025 03 28 A33163 D286465 Life Science Washington Sustaining Washington S Leadership I
Summary
A slide presentation titled Sustaining Washington's Leadership in Life Sciences, prepared for the House Technology, Economic Development & Veterans Committee and dated March 28, 2025. The slides describe Washington's life sciences cluster, its research institutions and supportive state policies, and use Seagen as an example of long, costly drug development, citing $3.1B in R&D and a 2023 sale to Pfizer for $43B. They report 2022 employment of 46,540 people and a 2022 economic impact of $38.8B, and describe state investments in research, workforce and the Washington Innovation Network mentoring program. Further slides compare incentives in other states and discuss artificial intelligence in biotech, spinout companies and the regulatory framework for drugs.
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Cite this document
“Sustaining Washington’s Leadership in Life Sciences.”
Original at app.leg.wa.gov, dated 2025-03-28. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-03-28-2025-03-28-a33163-d286465-life-science-washington-sustaining-washington-s-leadership-i/
, SHA-256 4900f50e58090003063baca31223ede66b7ed3ef6105e35accf330df9b8b864a.Full text
Sustaining Washington’s
Leadership in
Life Sciences
House Technology, Economic
Development & Veterans Committee
March 28, 2025
Washington Has Built One of the Nations Top Life Science Clusters
Washington state’s life sciences industry has a long, proven track
record of innovation built on decades of research, collaboration, and Research Institutions
University of Washington
investment. We didn’t get here by accident; it’s the result of strategic WSU Health Sciences
vision and dedicated talent. Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Institute for Systems Biology
Seattle Children’s Research Institute
Allen Institute
Benaroya Research Institute
Supportive Policy
• Life Sciences Discovery Fund
• R&D Tax Credit
• Washington Global Health Fund
• State R&D Tax Incentives
• Biotechnology & Medical Device
Manufacturing Tax Incentive
• Andy Hill CARE Fund
2
*Life science employment has provided a buffer during the last three recessions
Building a Life Science Company is a Long, Expensive Journey: Seagen’s Story
Seagen’s journey highlights the high cost, long timelines, and uncertain outcomes of life sciences innovation.
• Massive R&D Costs
o Seagen invested $3.1B in R&D over 20+ years, exceeding its total revenue.
• Lengthy Approval Process
o Took 13 years (1998–2011) to achieve FDA approval for its first drug.
• High Failure Rate
o Out of 17 projects, only one reached the market; 9 drug candidates were discontinued.
• Reliance on Partnerships
o Licensing and collaborations provided crucial funding and expertise.
• No Profitability but Still Robust Employment
o Despite revenue from licensing, Seagen has never turned a profit.
• Success Usually Comes at the End
o Sold to Pfizer in 2023 for $43B
3
o Others partner, license, or another financial exit
Homegrown Industry Developed Over Decades
(1997) (2023)
(2013) (2018)
(2004) (2019)
(1998) (2012)
(1980) (1998)
4
Growth has Accelerated Over the Past Decade
Washington is a top 10 life sciences hub in the United States
ADDED MANUFACTURING
JOBS
TOP STEM-BASED GROWTH DRIVEN BY
INDUSTRY FOR WOMEN COMBINATION OF INVESTMENT
& EXPANSION
2022 EMPLOYMENT
46,540 112,851
Individuals employed Jobs supported by
directly in life sciences jobs WA life sciences industry
2022 ECONOMIC IMPACT
$38.8B $1.6B
Total economic impact Contribution to
5
state/local tax revenue
Washington’s Life Sciences Industry: Unique Attributes
Cell & Gene Therapy, Convergence World-Class Research
Immunotherapy/ of Tech (AI) & Institutions
Oncology Life Sciences
Advanced
Global Health Ultrasound
Biomanufacturing
6
Washington has Emerged a Biomanufacturing Hub
7
…But its future hangs in the balance
Critical State Investments - Research
Distributed more than $58M in grants for
cancer research to Washington state
companies and research institutions
8
Critical State Investments - Workforce
Workforce – Need to expand programs for specialized expertise
We’ve developed a statewide strategy for building targeted programs with targeted institutions to build capacity
In-Demand Life Science Jobs = high volume demand
Lab, Research Bioinformaticians, Data
Quality Control
Technicians Sciences, & Tech Talent
2-year STEM degree 4-year degree
Clinical Research Engineers & Engineering
Regulatory Affairs
Coordinators Technicians
2-year STEM degree + on the job training
Clinical Research Biomanufacturing Scientists & Senior
Associates Technicians Scientists
2-year STEM degree High school + certificate 4-year degree
9
Critical State Investments - Entrepreneurship
LSW’s Washington Innovation Network (WIN) Mentoring
Program is one of the highest impact, highest return
economic development programs in the country.
WIN by the Numbers:
Program Growth:
37
# of Active Companies
13
12
6
10
2017 2018 2021 2024
What Makes Us Less Competitive Than Other States
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) has
State SBIR State Manufacturing R&D Tax Angel Funding
Matching Sales Tax Credit
strategically deployed more than $700M since its
creation in 2007, through a combination of grants,
California X X loans, capital infrastructure investments, tax incentives,
and workforce programs.
Massachusetts X X X X
New York Life Sciences R&D Tax Credit: 50% credit of
New York X X X the federal R&D credit (up to 6% of R&D
expenditures) and a specialized Life Sciences R&D
Pennsylvania X X X
Credit (15-20% of expenditures) for qualified
North Carolina X X businesses. This program is particularly attractive for
life sciences startups and growing companies.
Washington
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBiotech)
Illinois X X X X is a state-funded nonprofit that supports life sciences
growth through grants, loans, and strategic programs.
Virigina X X X X Since 1984, it has awarded nearly 3,000 grants and
loans totaling over $150M to advance research,
Maryland X X X X innovation, and workforce development across North
Carolina.
11
Emerging Global Leadership in Convergence of AI and Life Sciences
Washington state is a global leader in
AI innovation in the life sciences.
To sustain progress, we must approach
AI in life sciences differently than in
consumer tech, recognizing its unique
challenges and opportunities.
12
Life Sci WA
Overview of AI in Biotech
Non-confidential
13
AI / ML Applications the Pharmaceutical Space
• Drugs are a $1,600 Billion global industry, 60%
• Health Care is a $4,900 Billion US
small molecules (aspirin, Lipitor), 30% biologics
industry
(insulin, Ozempic)
Business Operations Clinical Applications Research & Development
Example applications… Example applications… Example applications…
• Process Improvement • Clinical Trial Operations (site • Target Identification
• Post-Marketing Surveillance selection, patient recruitment, • Drug Re-purposing
• Chatbots oversight, etc.) • Disease prioritization
• Patient Assistance • Personalized Medicine (high / low • Protein structure prediction
• Manufacturing Process responders, stratification, etc.) • In silico de novo protein design
Improvement • Dose optimization • In silico Protein Optimization
• Manufacturing Controls • Data Management • In silico mAb Optimization
• Incorporating real world evidence • In silico small molecule library
(from practicing physicans) screening
• In silico small molecule
Optimization
• In silico Tox and Efficacy
Prediction
Non-confidential 14
Application of AI/ML in Drug Discovery & Development
• Big Data analysis – Mining proprietary datasets for new targets, limited value as stand alone without drug development partner
Established
– Examples: insitro, Pattern Computing, BioMap, PostEra, Seismic Therapeutics,
• Small Molecule Discovery & Design – First successful applications of AI/ML in the pharma space
– Examples: Atomwise, Excsientia, Recursion, Aria Pharma (twoXAR), BenevolentAI
David Baker, Co-Founder
UW IPD
2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Biologics Design – at the interface between protein structure prediction and protein redesign
– Proteins – Recent introduction language model ML has accelerated the design capabilities of this space
Example: Cyrus Bio, Xaira, Generate Biomedicine, Profluent, Insumed, Neoleukin
Alphafold, OpenFold (Seattle), Rosettafold (Seattle)
– mAb – CDR modeling remains an active area of development, limited computational benefit above other mAb platforms
Examples: BigHat Biosciences, Biolojic Design, MAbSilico, AbSci, nABla, Prescient (Genentech)
Emerging
– RNA – Not addressed by AI/ML, emerging area for future tool development, design is still physics based
Example: Atomic AI, Inceptive, (Das, Stanford)
• Cell Therapies – Emerging area of applying protein AI/ML to the nascent cell therapy space
– Examples: Outpace Bio, BMS Non-confidential 15
Univ. of Wash / David Baker’s lab / Protein Design Institute –
Spinout Map
Human Therapeutics & Vaccines
De novo mini binders, Founded 2023 Industrial Proteins
Icosavax Raising Seed Round 2024
Engineered Nanopartical cages, Founded 2018
Acquired by AstraZeneca for $1.1B
Mopac
Oral IL23 antagonist, Founded 2022 Arzeda
Protein Engineering, Founded 2008
A-Alpha Bio
Target Screening, Founded 2018
Biosensors
Cyrus Biotechnology
Protein Engineering, Founded 2014 Monod
Biosensors, Founded 2022
Neoleukin Scientific Association
De novo, Founded 2018 • Sana Biotechnology
Liquidated 2023 • Lyell Immunopharma
PVP Bio
• Outpace Bio
Protein Engineering, Founded 2017
Acquired by Takeda $317M • Charm
NON-CONFIDENTIAL 16
Seattle is the global leader in biotech AI in 2025
• Seattle/WA: Protein design Nobel prize in 2025, 30 years of work
• IPD, A-Alpha, Icosavax, Xaira, Outpace, Arzeda, Neoleukin, Cyrus, Vilya, Absci
• Boston/MA:
• Generate, AIproteins; heavier small molecule
• SF/CA:
• Xaira, BigHat, (others in small molecule e.g. Atomwise)
• London/UK: Nobel prize in 2025 for DeepMind
• Small molecule (Exscientia, Benevolent, Charm, DeepMind, Isomorphic, Aria
(twoXAR))
How can we turn innovation (papers, IP, people) into investment dollars and approved
drugs in WA?
• Tailwinds: Competitive business environment, cost of living
• Headwinds: Senior talent in biotech, capital in biotech, favorable regulatory
• Responsible Biodesign international working group
https://responsiblebiodesign.ai/
Non-confidential 17
Biotech is a heavily regulated industry with FDA federal, state, local, and
institutional frameworks
•FDA regulates drugs from pre-clinical work (pre Investigational New Drug application) in rats, monkeys,
rabbits, etc. through first in human (ph1), efficacy (ph2) and approval (ph3), and into post-approval studies
•OSHA and WA State and other permitting agencies regulate laboratories, chemical matter, and the use of
animals pre-clinically
•The outputs of our industry are novel chemical matter and biological matter, which requires a laboratory
to be put into practice physically
•Drugs require the full FDA path before going into humans
•Existing FDA regulatory handles human intelligence, and artificial intelligence adds more variety to human
ideas but fits into the same framework
•Biotech AI outputs are fundamentally different from the widely used Generative AI models in the news
for text, images, video, and sound (e.g. Gemini, ChatGPT, etc.)
•Biotech AI outputs are not human readable –they have to go to a lab to be tested, just like any the
invention of a human mind
•Standard Generative AI models are human readable directly (no lab needed) and not currently subject to
FDA or other regulatory, those risks are different from Biotech AI
•FDA working groups are evaluating AI risks and rewards in the context primarily of us in human clinical
trials and in clinical decision making
Non-confidential 6
Non-confidential 18
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