NJ must maintain competitve edge to attract life science firms.

New Jersey's main competition to attracting a new life science jobs continues to be Boston/ Cambridge and San Francisco--home to such major research universities as Boston University and UCSF, a multitude of major venture capital firms and a proactive development atmosphere--creating the infrastructure required by the life science community.

Almost every major market in the country has either developed or is in the process of creating a sustainable life science cluster to attract biotech and pharmaceutical companies and the jobs and tax revenue they bring.

The pertinent questions are: What separates New Jersey in the eyes of a life science CEO? And what does New Jersey need to do to maintain a competitive edge?

Like many top tier markets, New Jersey has a major university presence with such institutions as Princeton, Rutgers, UMDNJ and NJIT; state-sponsored economic incentive programs that place a premium on attracting life science sector jobs; a high standard of living and a significant intellectual capital base.

What makes New Jersey unique is an extensive institutional or "big pharma" history and presence (providing a home for major pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson, sanofi-aventis, Novartis, Pfizer, Merck, Schering Plough, Bristol Myers Squibb, Hoffmann LaRoche, et al); proximity to major world financial markets and an existing employee base exceeding 140,000 in the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors.

The challenge, however, is not limited to attracting new companies, but also in accommodating the expansion of existing companies already operating here. While economic incentives have been and will continue to be very important, the primary issues for many life science companies are the lack of existing infrastructure (existing state-of-the-art lab space), the cost of building new lab and technical space and the resulting inability to structure flexible facilities planning.

Modern life science facilities (non-owner occupied) exist in limited quantity and, with the exception of random individual properties that come to market, commercial life science parks are nearing current capacity. Pending completion of recent transactions, the Technology Centre of New Jersey in North Brunswick is approaching full occupancy.

The location of these sites is also an important factor, with a significant percentage of the current inventory in the greater Princeton area. Opportunities are much more limited north along 1-287 in Middlesex County and almost non-existent in Morris and Bergen counties.

However, plans for new construction and the adaptive reuse of existing inventory continue, which will help accommodate continued expansion in New Jersey.

Two of the examples of this are SciPark, a 250,000 s/f development by Woodmont Properties in East Windsor, and the refurbishment of 1 Research Way in Princeton by BioMed Realty Trust, a 50,000 s/f office and lab building formerly occupied by Elan. Construction on SciPark's Phase I of 65,000 s/f will begin later this summer with occupancy expected in mid-2007.

There is little prospective new development in the northern counties planned.

For the State's long-term economic growth, it is critical to create and maintain a competitive environment that will allow pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, both established and emerging, to locate and grow in New Jersey.

We must continue to attract new life science business through public and private efforts, focus on enhancing New Jersey's position as one of the nation's leading life science centers and encourage the development of world class life science properties.

BY JOHN CUNNINGHAM, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

GVA WILLIAMS NEW JERSEY

CO-CHAIRMAN GVA LIFE SCIENCES