Ottawa's life sciences sector following growth pattern similar to region's successful high-technology sector

The architects of Ottawa's diverse life sciences sector will be closely monitoring the success of the regions booming high-technology cluster as it positions itself for future growth. Ranked third or fourth by size in Canada after Toronto, Montreal and possibly Vancouver, the life sciences sector has been successful in attracting significant projects to the area, largely on the strength of its public research base. But relatively few major industrial players have earmarked Ottawa for expansion, and private and provincial planners are keen to see that trend reversed by enhancing the attractiveness of the region through a long-term strategy of building on growth from within.

"The issue is that the life sciences in Ottawa is not a single cluster, it's a sector of sectors and the difficulty is assembling what we would call critical mass in each of those," says Ken Lawless, executive director of the Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC). "The ultimate goal is to grow your own because firms will stay here and collaborate with others. In high-tech, the Ciscos and the other major firms have been coming recently because Ottawa is a hot place to be and that is because of a grow-from-within strategy."

Lawless estimates that it will be five to 10 years before Ottawa's biotech sector grows to the point where it will begin to lure large pharmaceutical and biotech players to the region, and adds that much work remains to be done in terms of building up infrastructure, ensuring an adequate supply of skilled personnel and priming the investment community.

"If we're spinning off 10 to 12 companies a year now, imagine what it's going to be like when we have a better refined infrastructure and a more efficient system for spinning technology off," he says. "If you're following what's happening in the high-technology sector, we're following the same pattern. Our time lines may be different in terms of getting products to market, but the growth of the sector is actually following a very similar pattern. A key element is that life sciences is made up of extremely large global niche markets. One hit and it becomes an anchor for the entire sector."

Biotech employment in the Ottawa area totals approximately 11,000, with 3,300 on the private sector side. Another 4,000 jobs are expected to be created by the end of 2003 as both public and private activity increases, placing further strain on an already tight job market.

The situation is somewhat better on the infrastructure side, with growth in the public sector after years of stagnation. Federal laboratories and facilities are coming on stream, such as the National Research Council's new biotech extraction centre. The Ontario government has also stepped up to the plate, with a $5.4-million investment to create the Ottawa Biotechnology Incubation Centre. It will have two locations that will be geared to support the biomedical and agbiotech sectors (R$, July 28/00).

Lawless estimates that there's $350 million in R&D conducted annually in the region, with the lion's share funded and performed by the public sector, but he expects that will slowly change over time.

The recent Ottawa Life Sciences National Conference and Exhibition provided an opportunity for biotech players from Ottawa and across the country to display their products and services. But it also focused on growing the strength of biotech beyond the medical arena and into other industrial areas such as agriculture and the chemical sector. The convergence of other high-tech sectors with biotechnology is the key to future opportunity, says Lawless, which is why Ottawa possesses huge potential.

"We've got a great base to build on and grow, and our challenge is to build it one brick at a time. It's really ours to lose," he says. "Our opportunity to leverage the information technology and agricultural industries and the medical industry gives us a clear advantage over the next two decades."

The OLSC was created six years ago and is supported by a $150,000 grant from the regional government and the remainder of its $1-million budget comes from various activities and projects. Lawless says he's looking for substantial increases in core funding. "We've stepped up to the plate and sometimes governments have to make investments too. We're not talking about a lot, but we should have a core budget of about $500,000. We can drive projects off that base no problem," he asserts.

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