"Trump in an August executive order said federal grants had been insufficiently vetted, and some propagated absurd ideologies. Hastings, whose South San Francisco firm Nkarta engineers killer cells to fight disease, said biotechnology companies across the board are cutting staff and product-development projects as uncertainty over what comes next rattles investors."
"Industry representatives say Bay Area biotech is under threat as the Trump administration fights to strip more research money from the universities and grant programs whose federally funded studies are turned into treatments by private industry. That relationship between academia and business has played a role in nearly all new drugs and treatments developed in the U.S., delivering massive patient benefit, said Palo Alto biotech investor Srini Akkaraju."
Federal scrutiny and an August executive order questioning grant vetting and propagated ideologies have heightened uncertainty for Bay Area biotechnology firms. Companies such as Nkarta have cut jobs and product-development work as investors react to potential funding disruptions. The biotech sector supplies treatments for rare genetic disorders and cancer and contributes nearly $100 billion annually to the regional economy while generating over $4 billion in local and state tax revenue. The Bay Area life sciences sector last year received $2 billion in NIH funds, produced $94 billion in direct output, and employed more than 150,000 people. Industry leaders warn that reducing university and grant funding threatens the pipeline that turns federally funded studies into new treatments.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]