California's Biotech Industry Thriving, Despite Sluggish Economy

By Kenny Goldberg / Health Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published June 19, 2008 at 12:24 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

California's economy may be going through a rough patch, but the state's biotech industry is thriving. That's the consensus from participants in this week's Bio International Convention in San Diego.

California's economy may be going through a rough patch, but the state's biotech industry is thriving. That's the consensus from participants in this week's Bio International Convention in San Diego. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.

California has more than 2,700 biotech companies. Together, they generate more than $72 billion in annual revenue. Joe Panetta is president and CEO of Biocom . His group represents the industry in Southern California. Panetta says many companies are trying to develop research tools that could help fine tune the drug development process.

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Panetta: We can't continue to sustain the model that we've seen in the past, where we spend a billion-and-a-half dollars and it take 15 years to develop a new drug.

Panetta says companies are also using the science of genomics to try and come up with drugs that are tailored to the individual. Panetta believes this personalized medicine could change the way we treat disease.

Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.