BIOCOM manufacturing survey rates San Diego number one among local biotech companies.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a study of San Diego-based biotechnology companies, the outlook for biotechnology product manufacturing in the greater San Diego metropolitan areas appears to be bright.

The survey, conducted by the manufacturing committee of BIOCOM/San Diego, the biomedical industry association, in cooperation with the San Diego Economic Development Corp. (EDC), found the consensus of participating companies to be that the San Diego area was the preferred area to locate both pilot and full-scale manufacturing facilities.

According to Ann Randolph, managing director of BIOCOM, which previewed some of the survey's results at a recent meeting of the industry's largest regional association: "Clearly, San Diego biotech companies are pleased to be here and overwhelmingly prefer to stay here as they move their operations into manufacturing, provided the state and local business and political climates are supportive. This is good news for the community and for the industry, particularly since most expected to leave when asked in 1991."

Supervised by BIOCOM manufacturing committee chairman William R. Beckman, principal of Biotech Affiliates, the survey was sent to 85 bioscience companies located in San Diego County and was responded to by 34 of them. The major purposes of the survey were to determine (1) company expectations regarding whether they would manufacture in facilities they owned or not; (2) criteria used to determine the location of such facilities; (3) attitudes regarding alternative manufacturing area; (4) anticipated facility size requirements and employee levels and education needs.

The survey found that the majority of respondents expect full-scale manufacturing of their products in the next five to ten years to be done at plants that they own, versus at a contract manufacturing facility or that of a pharmaceutical company partner. The two highest-rated factors regarding the location of manufacturing facilities, the survey found, are "uninterrupted availability of water" and "availability of adjacent or nearby land for expansion."

Among the respondents, the Greater San Diego area was the highest-rated location for both a pilot plant and full-scale manufacturing facility, with "other Western states" and the San Francisco Bay area as the next best rated locales.

The average anticipated facility size for an opening manufacturing facility is 34,000 square feet with prospective expansion to 54,000 square feet after five years, and to 75,000 square feet after ten years.

Over the same time frames, the survey found that expected employment needs would rise from 47 employees for a first full-scale manufacturing facility to 102 employees in five years, and to 153 employees ten years later. These manufacturing facilities will provide a significantly higher level of employment opportunity for individuals with high school or community college degrees than the biotechnology industry's current R&D facilities, averaging 39 percent of the workforce at the former facilites versus only 16 percent at the latter kind of operation.

The survey, said Beckman, provides "a current snapshot of the biotechnology industry's attitudes toward and outlook for manufacturing in San Diego. We can continue to chart the shifts in attitudes and requirements in relation to changes in the industry and greater industry experience in manufacturing biotechnology products."

CONTACT: BIOCOM/San Diego

Ann Randolph, managing director, 619/455-0300

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BIOTECHNOLOGY PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICINE REPEATS: New York 212-575-8822 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-330-5311 or