Feature
Making Connections
March 23, 2007
A Q&A with George Telthorst, interim director of the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership
After 22 years at large life sciences firms including Baxter, Johnson and Johnson, and Boston Scientific, George Telthorst wanted to get involved with smaller companies and startups. Last year he joined the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership (BLSP) as interim director, overseeing the organization's efforts to promote life sciences activity by bringing together academia, government, and industry. Telthorst spoke with the IU Life Sciences Initiative about how partnerships contribute to growth in the life sciences.
What is the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership?
To put it simply, we're an organization that brings people in the life sciences together to exchange ideas and information and form partnerships. The idea of partnership is that it acts as an information clearinghouse or hub to connect people and facilitate success. One good example is technology transfer from IU labs to Indiana industry. Another example is creating business and research incubator spaces and attracting angel investing to fund those efforts. We're partnering with Ivy Tech now to create a life sciences training institute to make sure there are enough people trained for jobs in life sciences manufacturing and other positions. So partnerships are really ubiquitous, especially when it comes to the life sciences. Government plays a role. Industry has a role. Academia has a role. There's a big emphasis on partnership at the state level, and our job is to help bring people together locally, in Bloomington and nearby towns.
George Telthorst, interim director of the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership.
Bloomington is a small town, but there's a lot of life sciences activity there and in surrounding areas. What's driving it?
Bill Cook was the catalyst. When he founded Cook Incorporated in 1963, it was the only game in town. Today Bloomington has a division of Baxter, there's a branch of Boston Scientific in Spencer — both are related to Cook being here. And having those companies in the area creates a kind of virtuous cycle: Cook, Boston Scientific, and Baxter recruit engineers, scientists, and business people, some of whom go on to start their own life sciences-related businesses. Success breeds more success.
Taking a broader view, where does Indiana stand in the national life sciences pecking order?
I'd say we're just below the top three, those being the greater San Francisco area, Minnesota, and Boston. But we're right up there with the North Carolina research triangle, or at least we're getting there. Building a successful life sciences economy has a lot to do with having a critical mass of firms and services in place. And in that sense Indiana has some real advantages. Cook I've already mentioned. Then there's Lilly, of course — a company that has a huge effect on the state. And thanks to Zimmer, Inc., Biomet, and DePuy, Warsaw, Indiana is known as the orthopedics capital of the world. Life sciences is the flavor of the day, and every state would love to get a taste. But not all states have such a solid base already in place.
And then there's our rich manufacturing tradition. Most people don't think about this in terms of life sciences, but innovations in the auto industry, like LEAN and Six Sigma [advanced manufacturing techniques] have had a big impact on life sciences industries here. Executives and engineers from the automotive industry switching over to medical device and pharmaceutical companies have really supercharged the manufacturing and distribution processes in terms of consistency and efficiency. It's mainly behind the scenes, but the state's strong manufacturing base gives us a distinct competitive advantage in life sciences.
So what can Indiana do to take the next step?
Like any area of business, how well you do is directly linked to the flow of investment money and the willingness of people to take risks. In places like San Francisco, Minnesota, and Boston, the pace of entrepreneurship and venture capital investment is happening at warp speed. People are willing to start businesses, fail, and then try again. Indiana is working to embrace that sort of entrepreneurial spirit. What is important is that we continue to build on what we have and create more opportunities and more jobs in the life sciences. As a venture capitalist from California who now lives in Indiana told me, ten years ago we were moving at something like 5 mph when it came to start-up businesses and venture capital. Today we're at 50 mph. There's still room for growth, but we are making significant progress.
