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Biopharmaceutical Industry Contributions to State and U.S. Economies

 

 

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most enduring, largest and most critical knowledge-intensive sectors in the U.S. economy. For about one century following its emergence as a sizable economic force in the mid-19th century, pharmaceutical manufacturers in America essentially operated as a subsector of the chemicals industry.

Along with chemical development and manufacturing, the pharmaceutical industry was distinctly shaped by advances in chemical engineering and basic chemistry and their innovative application.

 

In the 1970s, developments under way since World War II ushered in the biotechnology revolution. Biotechnology is an outgrowth of interdisciplinary research in molecular biology, immunology and biochemistry, aided by new techniques such as X-ray structural analysis and computer-assisted drug synthesis.

 

Partly due to the promise of therapeutic breakthroughs, many traditional pharmaceutical firms in the 1990s looking to augment their product pipelines matched up with biotech companies seeking external resources, additional expertise and the ability to quickly scale-up production and global marketing capabilities. Other pharmaceutical firms increased biotechnology research in their own laboratories. A pattern of increasing interdependence evolved....