Deval Patrick's 10-Year, $1B Life Sciences Plan Bears Fruit in Massachusetts

The life sciences boom Massachusetts is enjoying can be traced in part to a 2008 initiative championed by former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick committing the state to spending $1 billion over 10 years to jump-start the industry.

Aug. 17, 2017, at 12:51 a.m.

By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — In his offices at Boston Children's Hospital, Leonard Zon is busily developing cutting-edge stem cell therapies surrounded by fellow researchers, lab equipment and 300,000 striped, transparent zebrafish.

Zon's lab — and the zebrafish — are the results of an initiative begun nearly a decade ago to make Massachusetts one of the country's premier life sciences incubators.

That 2008 initiative, signed by former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, committed Massachusetts to spending $1 billion over 10 years to jump-start the life sciences sector — attracting the best minds, research facilities and the venture capital funding.

By most yardsticks, Patrick's gamble has paid off. Massachusetts, and the greater Boston area in particular, are now seen as a top life sciences hub.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/massachusetts/articles/2017-08-17/10-year-1b-life-sciences-plan-bears-fruit-in-massachusetts