"Veteran Bay Area biomedical CEO Paul Hastings had to lay off five dozen employees at his company earlier this year, thanks, he said, to what he described as the Trump administration's attacks on universities, science and medical-research funding, he said."
"Trump in an August executive order said federal grants had been insufficiently vetted, and some "propagated absurd ideologies.""
"The biotech sector, producing treatments for maladies from rare genetic disorders to cancer, is a key economic engine for the Bay Area, pouring nearly $100 billion into the region's economy annually, according to industry group Biocom California, and sending more than $4 billion into local and state tax coffers, trade group California Life Sciences reported."
"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. "And yet we're throwing a wrench into this beautiful machine?""
Bay Area biotech companies are reducing staff and pausing product-development projects amid uncertainty from federal scrutiny of research funding. An August executive order questioned the vetting of federal grants and said some grants "propagated absurd ideologies," prompting cancellations and suspensions of university-funded studies. The region's life sciences sector receives significant NIH funds, generates substantial economic output, and employs over 150,000 people. Industry representatives warn that cutting research support and university grants threatens the pipeline that turns federally funded studies into treatments, undermining drug development, investor confidence, and local and state economic and tax benefits.
Read at The Mercury News
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