The Massachusetts Life Sciences Summit
     Boston, MA
     September 12, 2003

100 of the State's Top Leaders Gather for First Annual Massachusetts Life Sciences Summit
Group Seeks Consensus on Steps to  Make the State Undisputed Global Leader in the Life Sciences

More than 100 leaders from the Massachusetts life sciences cluster gathered at Harvard Business School on September 12 to discuss how Massachusetts can best capitalize on its global leadership position in life sciences.

The summit was spearheaded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a broad coalition of life sciences organizations. Those in attendance included top leaders from the healthcare, medical device, pharmaceutical, HMO, hospital, academic and biotechnology industries, in addition to the state's leading business associations. The summit provided a platform to set in motion an action plan to help the state sustain and improve upon its leadership position in life sciences.

President Lawrence H. Summers of Harvard University highlighted the culture of strong support and collaboration needed to go forward. Summers commented: "This is a crucial moment. We have a chance to succeed in life sciences in a way we did not in information technology, if we can foster a climate of collaboration and if we can maintain the tremendous diversity of choices. If we are able to do those things we are better suited to succeed in this vital field."

A presentation followed from President Charles M. Vest of MIT and Eric S. Lander, Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University entitled " The Scientific Frontier in Life Sciences." Vest commented: "Leading the new generation of life sciences and science-based medicine requires bright people, nimble organizations, competition and collaboration. Massachusetts has the greatest collection of universities, hospitals and talent: our task now is to build the synergy needed to deliver good health, jobs and a vital economy." Lander added: "The rapid advancements in the ability to discover the molecular mechanism of disease are going to revolutionize the way we treat these diseases."

Professor Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School provided the keynote discussion entitled "Massachusetts' Competitive Position in Life Sciences: Where Do We Stand? "  By using pivotal research studies recently conducted regarding the Massachusetts life science sector, Porter evaluated the state's relative performance to date, provided a competitive assessment and suggested strategic issues the group needs to address to further establish Massachusetts as the life sciences state. Porter said "Massachusetts has an extraordinary position in life sciences - world leadership is truly ours to grasp. Life sciences represents the single largest economic opportunity for this region. To seize it, however, we will need to address some important weaknesses and collaborate in new ways. This summit aims to kick off a new model of working across institutions in this State."

Following Porter's presentation, David Gergen of the Kennedy School of Government facilitated a panel discussion entitled "Current Initiatives to Strengthen Massachusetts Life Sciences: Are we doing the right things? Are we doing them right?" Panelists included:

Charles Baker, President, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare
Barbara Berke, Director, Department of Business and Technology, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Robert Brown, Provost, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Joseph Martin, Dean, Harvard Medical School
Henri Termeer, CEO, Genzyme

The summit concluded with comments from Robert Pozen, Secretary of Economic Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and next steps were outlined by Professor Porter.



Presentation materials:

Transcript of Remarks by Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers

Transcript of Remarks by MIT President Charles M. Vest

Massachusetts' Competitive Position in Life Sciences: Where Do We Stand? (pdf)
     Presentation by Michael E. Porter 


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Universities need to be nimble leaders to sustain local biotech boom, Vest says
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Biotech Put Front Center in State Development Schemes
     WBUR audio report