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74 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2015 SPONSORED REPORT The Promise of Bioscience Connecticut Stakes Its Claim as a Leader in the Field B acked by one of the nation's most educated and productive workforces, Connecticut is home to global powerhouses in insurance, finance, manufacturing, and aerospace, and is rapidly becoming a hub for bioscience. One of the crown jewels of the state's high-tech knowledge economy, this fast-growing industry is now responsible for more than 50,000 jobs in over 800 companies throughout the state, from small startups to multina- tional, multibillion-dollar corporations. Annual growth in direct employ- ment by Connecticut's biopharmaceuti- cal sector has outpaced employment growth in the rest of the economy, and direct economic output per employee, which represents the value of goods and services, is also considerably stron- ger in the biopharmaceutical sector. In 2011, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the bio- pharmaceutical sector alone generated $8.9 billion in economic output in the state and supported another $7.7 bil- lion through its vendors, suppliers, and the economic activity of its workforce. Success Breeds Success Connecticut is fourth in the na- tion for bioscience patents per capita, fifth in bioscience research and in the number of scientists and engineers per capita, and first for healthy residents. Our success in this arena is no ac- cident. World-class research institutions — including Yale University, UConn, and Quinnipiac Medical School — create a steady stream of health and bioscience professionals, startup companies, and licensing transactions in Connecticut. And over the last two decades, state policymakers have invested heavily in growing our bioscience sector by way of strategic tax policy and direct funding. Groundbreaking legislation passed in 2005 authorized a ten-year invest- ment of $100 million in stem cell research (reauthorized in 2011), pro- pelling Connecticut to the forefront of regenerative medicine. The industry's recent success has also been bolstered by the state's Bioscience Innovation Fund, which provides $200 million to innovative biotech startups, nonprofits, and university researchers. In terms of intellectual capital, economic stimulation, and break- throughs that save lives, improve pa- tient outcomes, and make Connecticut a nucleus for advances in health and medicine, the return on investment is extraordinary. In the last several months alone: • Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s experimental hepatitis C drug, when used in combination with an another antiviral medicine, eradicates signs of the liver-destroying virus in six weeks, the shortest duration and highest response achieved by any two- drug treatment. The estimated $20 billion market for hep C drugs has de- veloped at a lightning pace in recent years, with companies working on faster, more potent cures. Hepatitis C affects more than 170 million people globally. One of the few companies developing hepatitis C therapies inde- pendently, New-Haven-based Achil- lion plans to begin a midstage study this year.