5 ways Gov. Josh Shapiro can boost Pennsylvania’s innovation economy

During his first few weeks in office, Gov. Josh Shapiro has made no secret of his desire to boost Pennsylvania’s economy and job market.

Shapiro has ordered Pennsylvania agencies to smooth out their licensing and permitting processes, appointed a chief transformation and opportunity officer to make it easier to do business in the state, and eliminated the requirement for a four-year degree for certain state-government jobs.

Jeff Marrazzo, the former CEO of Spark Therapeutics Inc., a Philadelphia biotech company, was a member of the innovation subcommittee of Shapiro’s transition team. He spoke with The Inquirer this week to share his thoughts about how Pennsylvania’s new governor can support companies — particularly in biotechnology and life sciences.

There is an extraordinary amount of value in a public leader, such as a governor, stepping into the role of chief marketing officer, Marrazzo said. When there is an opportunity for economic development, new company creation, a company that wants to move to Pennsylvania, a business-minded governor can be the chief sales and marketing person for the state.

Marrazzo has seen this work before: “I was at a meeting last summer with a number of CEOs of other companies. The entire meeting was just CEOs, with the exception of one person. That person was the mayor of Miami. That individual got himself into this meeting and was walking around introducing himself, offering to be available to explore whether or not any of those companies wanted to move their technology-based company to Miami. There’s a lot of benefit to that.”

Marrazzo, who is still involved in advising biotechnology companies, hopes that Shapiro will look objectively at the state and determine what ingredients the state has that could make it world class in two or three industries and then make some big bets to support those industries. Cell and gene therapy is an area in which Pennsylvania has ingredients for competitive advantage that could enable it to be world class, he said. “Another possibility would be autonomous transportation and robotics,” he said.

In biotech, other states have made big bets, said Marrazzo. He points to Massachusetts in 2008 as a model. The state created the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center which has provided about $1.5 billion to support the life sciences industry, academic centers, and STEM education in the state. Another example: New York City recently announced plans to spend $20 million on a biotech incubator in Brooklyn.

The state has more of an indirect role in this, Marrazzo explained. Recruiting and retaining star researchers can have a large economic impact because a large number of start-ups come out of their orbit. He used the University of Pennsylvania’s Carl June as an example. June is one of the inventors of cell therapy, which used modified cells to carry treatment into the body.

Researchers such as June lead to the creation of business ecosystems, Marrazzo said. “The number of companies that are created then create a large number of jobs and they attract a large talent pool.”

Marrazzo hopes Shapiro will aid the construction of laboratory and manufacturing infrastructure. He says that, many times, start-ups are forced to use up to 20% of their venture capital building out a lab.

“Ideally, those new ventures would spend all their resources recruiting people and running experiments and doing clinical trials, not building lab space. If the company is successful and outgrows the lab, another start-up can move in,” Marrazzo explained.

“When you come up with a strategy that is focused on a couple of sectors that you’re going to bet on and try to become world class in, you can start to connect the dots,” said Marrazzo. He hopes Shapiro will focus not only on the major companies in the chosen sectors, but also on all the components they need to do their work. There’s a lot of things we need to manufacture cell therapies or manufacture gene therapies or to conduct our preclinical experiments that are made in other states or other countries, he said.

“I think there’s opportunities to look at what might be the critical supply chain or supportive companies that could be built in other areas and regions within the state” he said. A key ingredient in making a cell therapy could be manufactured in Altoona or it could be manufactured in the Northeast of the state.