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On April 19-20, 2007, the Biotechnology Initiative at CHF organized and hosted an evening public lecture and one-day conference on the past, present, and future of regional biotechnology clusters.

Clusters are regional concentrations of entrepreneurship and innovation, featuring networks of interconnected institutions—universities, service and supply industries, innovative companies, and governments—that contribute to the economic growth of a particular region. Industrial clustering has been a prominent feature of the growth of biotechnology. In the U.S., for example, biotechnology start-up companies emerged in areas with strong university research expertise in the biological techniques underlying biotechnology as an industry, combined with local climates conducive to commercialization, such as the existence of a venture capital sector or policy efforts targeting biotechnology development.

The historical growth of the biotechnology industry offers many lessons for its future potential. The conditions by which biotechnology developed in specific geographic areas tend to vary according to the unique circumstances of that region, but such development occurs in the context of geographically independent social, political, and economic trends. Analyzing the specifics of these variations and their interactions with the broader social landscape can help clarify the potential and the requirements for future biotechnology cluster development.

The conference consisted of an opening reception and public lecture; a one-day series of panels consisting of two speakers and a moderated question-and-answer period; and a closing public lecture. Conference members included local policymakers and biotechnology business representatives interested in building their biotechnology capabilities, members of national and broader regional biotechnology industry companies and other organizations, CHF-affiliated members interested in biotechnology, academics, students, public interest groups, and members of the general public.