Q&A: The State of Life Sciences in Ohio with Eddie Pauline and Tyler Allchin
Eddie Pauline, OLS, far left; Tyler Allchin, JobsOhio, far right | Image: Ohio Life Sciences
Ohio’s life sciences industry is growing daily, from longstanding institutions to new market entrants.
Following a drumbeat of major announcements in healthcare innovation, OhioTechNews.com caught up with a pair of leaders helping shape the industry’s future.
Eddie Pauline is the President and CEO of Ohio Life Sciences, the industry association representing the life sciences ecosystem in Ohio.
Tyler Allchin is Managing Director of Healthcare at JobsOhio, the state’s private economic development corporation. He is alo Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for Ohio Life Sciences.
OTN: How do JobsOhio and Ohio Life Sciences work hand in hand in promoting the industry here in the state?
Allchin: The partnership between JobsOhio and Ohio Life Sciences has never been better. We just gave a presentation in Columbus, and I have a slide that proudly reads, “Best life sciences economic development team in the country.” And I genuinely feel that. It’s a bit aspirational on some fronts, but we're trying to build momentum and chase other states that have a headstart on us, like a North Carolina, or more established hubs on the coasts.
Collectively, JobsOhio and OLS are meeting employers, institutions, and investors where their specific needs lie. If it's in the growth stage - the pieces that JobsOhio does really well around business attraction, workforce support, and R&D - we continue to push hard. There are great synergies between what OLS is doing around ecosystem development and supporting companies day-to-day. Ohio Life Sciences is a mission-critical partner for JobsOhio’s efforts in the life science sector. We can point to dozens of examples of collaboration. At BIO International, one of the world’s largest life sciences industry events, we bring together upwards of 100+ Ohio partners and showcase the great work happening in the state.
JobsOhio’s Tyler Allchin | Image: JobsOhio
Pauline: What has helped make the relationship even stronger is our new organizational structure - we have our association, our foundation, and now have the OLS Political Action Committee (OLSPAC) - these new entities allow us to do some things that JobsOhio can't do, such as activating our members in intentional lobbying efforts to help drive the creation or continuation of investment industry and patient friendly public policy.
We are actively building relationships with elected officials and investing in in candidates who are supportive of the industry, understand the opportunity life sciences create for Ohio and make sure they know that there are some policies that could be really helpful to the industry and patients - such as creating an SBIR matching program and approving the Biomarker bill. In other words, OLS can serve as a complementary effort to the broader investment and support that JobsOhio provides, which makes the relationship really productive.
Pauline, second from left, with other life sciences leaders from across the nation to ring the closing bell at the NYSE. | Image: Ohio Life Sciences
OTN: What are the state's strengths right now in the life sciences space?
Allchin: Ohio is the #1 state in the country for pediatric care. And we are either the #1 or the #2 state, depending on ranking, for pediatric research. So up and down the I-71 corridor, Cincinnati Children's is ranked #1, Nationwide Children's is #6, and Cleveland Clinic Children’s and UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s are highly ranked. When you put all that together, we are the destination nationally for cutting-edge care and research in pediatrics. You'll continue to see us take a leadership role in areas of pediatric focus, like rare diseases.
A differentiator is our ability to bring ecosystems together quickly and effectively. The relationships that both JobsOhio and Ohio Life Sciences have are fast and effective. And for companies and people looking to grow or take their next innovation to market, the ability to navigate institutions, navigate amongst funders, and talent sources, our resources are all within that three-and-a-half or four-hour drive in Ohio. We take a lot of pride in managing those relationships and bringing them to bear for companies and people to add value really quickly. That is something that we're proud of in comparison to peer states.
Pauline: I'll add to the importance of density and close proximity of research expertise at our institutions. We forget how important it is that one can set foot on the campuses of a half dozen top their research institutions in a four hour drive from Cleveland to Cincinnati. The density of unique and superior capabilities in Ohio, and their proximity to one another, is unusual and allows us to stand out. I think we should brag about that a little bit more and talk specifically about the unique science that's occurring here. The Innovation Districts give us a great opportunity to do that.
We've done a good job of talking about the fact that Ohio exists and it's affordable and has a good quality of life. Still, there are opportunities to talk more specifically about the unique science here - our groundbreaking gene therapy research (two out of about 10 FDA approved gene therapies were created here), pediatric device development via the new FDA funded Midwest pediatric consortium (1 of 5 in the country), the Neurotech Institute, the list goes on…and this will draw even more investment from outside Ohio if we tell this story in an intentional way.
Image: Ohio Life Sciences
OTN: What does Amgen’s debut mean to Ohio and the industry?
Allchin: I break it down into two primary pieces of value that are both exciting for the state. Foremost, it indicates to the broader pharma/biotech market that a well-established multinational, arguably the leading pharmaceutical corporation, is investing in Ohio. It's validating for Eddie and his team's work at Ohio Life Sciences to have the ability to welcome a company like Amgen to New Albany. And then the second piece I would double-click on is the talent and workforce.
JobsOhio is particularly proud of the partnership that we've stood up with Columbus State and Amgen around a biomanufacturing bootcamp. We seeded the pilot, and it is now scaling. Without a program like this and the ability to be nimble on the workforce front, it’s hard to see us winning more of these. But with that program, it’s a clearer path to winning the next couple of projects alongside Amgen. And, maybe more importantly, supporting Amgen as they grow into the facility.
OTN: What’s the big vision for the Biomanufacturing Bootcamp?
Pauline: It's safe to say we still have a life science industry awareness hurdle to overcome. And part of that is because we haven't had these big brands showing up in people's yards or along the highways as they engage in their daily activities. So what's happening now is people are literally seeing these signs appear, these names that they may have heard of in some other contexts, now in their neighborhood. And it's starting to get people to ask questions, like what do they do there, what sort of jobs may be there, and should my kid be working there at some point? So we see a big opportunity to drive more industry awareness to the emerging workforce, that K-16 crowd, introducing STEM and biotech to as many young people as possible.
We're looking at the importance of the imminent workforce too. Those students that are currently in community colleges, trade schools, and universities, do they have the relevant curriculum to find opportunities in our growing life science industry?
And then, of course, looking at the incumbent workforce, people already here, or people outside of Ohio with three to five years of experience that can pivot directly into this industry. That group in particular now sees Ohio as a destination they may not have considered before. That's key to shoring up the talent pipeline for the industry attracting even more people here.
We're under a lot of pressure to ensure we have the appropriate training available to continue to upskill people to pivot into the industry and work at a place like Amgen. You look at the needs that Amgen has, you have National Resilience in Southwest Ohio. You've got Abbott now in Northwest Ohio.
So more and more companies are here looking for talent, and we’ve got to take a program like what exists at Columbus State and replicate that across other institution - in 12 weeks or so unemployed or underemployed people are now able to work in this industry making close to 25 dollars an hour… it’s transforming people’s lives!
Image: Ohio Life Sciences
OTN: What did you find in your recent report highlighting the urgent need for wet lab space?
Pauline: Both JobsOhio and Ohio Life Sciences are trying to ensure that Ohio is an easy environment to start and grow your life science business. So companies have three key needs when they're trying to grow here: talent, funding, and then, of course, space. We're doing better in workforce. But we're still a little light on space, so we wanted to ensure we had a firm understanding of what that need is.
We found in central Ohio that we have an immediate need for between 20,000 and 50,000 square feet, just based on the potential pipeline of new life science technology coming out of places like Nationwide Children's and Ohio State. So where are these companies going to land? If we don't have an immediate solution for them, they're at risk of leaving.
Those institutions are hiring more and more researchers that are doing great life science work. The pipeline of new technology and commercialization opportunities will continue to grow. We are incentivized to try to keep as much of that tech here. So we need the talent, we need the space, and we need the funding to keep that life saving intellectual property here in Ohio.
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Visit OhioLifeSciences.org to learn more about the state’s growing life sciences industry.
