Learn about the scientists behind the discoveries, entrepreneurs,
political leaders, and significant events, people and institutions that are the foundation
of the biotechnology, medical device, pharmaceutical and life science industries
in the state of Pennsylvania.
Tell us about Pennsylvania's BioHistory. If you are aware of a notable event, person,
organization/company or accomplishment that we should include,
please e-mail: BioHistory@InfoResource.org
1751 -- University of Pennsylvania founded.
In 1749 in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin presented his vision of a school in a pamphlet
titled Proposals for the Education of Youth in Pensilvania. Unlike other American Colonial
colleges, the new school would not focus on education for the clergy. Instead, it would prepare
students for lives of business and public service. The proposed program of study would become
the nation's first modern liberal arts curriculum. More than 250 years later, The University of
Pennsylvania continues to blaze trails in education. It is home to the
nation's first medical school, which added as early as 1874, a university teaching hospital.
The University is also the birthplace of technological invention. In 1946, Penn introduced
ENIAC, the world's first electronic, large-scale, general-purpose digital computer.
Recognized as America's first university, Penn remains today a world-renowned center for the
creation and dissemination of knowledge. It serves as a model for research colleges and
universities throughout the world. Penn’s Master of
Biotechnology Program with its distinguished science departments, world-class biomedical
research centers and critical location at the hub of the largest pharmaceutical/biotechnology
corridor in the nation, is highly qualified to prepare students for careers in biotechnology
and pharmaceuticals.
1751 -- Nation’s first hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, founded in Philadelphia.
Since its founding by Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond,
Pennsylvania Hospital has been an innovator in
patient care, treatment techniques and medical research. The facility, part of the University
of Pennsylvania Health System, offers a full-range of diagnostic and therapeutic medical
services and is a major teaching and clinical research institution.
1830 -- John K Smith opens drugstore in Philadelphia (GlaxoSmithKline).
John K Smith opens his first drugstore in Philadelphia, and is soon joined by his younger
brother to form John K Smith & Co. -- now known as
GlaxoSmithKline. In 1865, Mahlon
Kline joins Smith as a bookkeeper, and as he assumed additional responsibilities
he was rewarded in 1875 when the company was renamed Smith, Kline & Company.
In 1891, Smith, Kline & Company acquires French, Richards & Company which provided
the company a larger portfolio of consumer brands, and in 1929 the company was again
renamed Smith Kline & French Laboratories and was refocused on research.
In 1952, Smith Kline & French introduced the first time-released medicine,
Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine sulfate) marketed and used in a Spansule -- a new form of
drug delivery, and in 1960 the company launched Contac, the cold remedy, using the
Spansule to release an initial major therapeutic dose, followed by numerous smaller doses,
over 10-12 hours. In 1982, SmithKline acquires Allergan, an eye and skincare business,
and merged with Beckman Instruments and was renamed SmithKline Beckman, and in
1988 SmithKline acquired one of its largest competitors, International Clinical
Laboratories which increased the company's size by half and established SmithKline
BioScience Laboratories as the industry leader.
In 1989, SmithKline Beckman and The Beecham Group merged to form SmithKline
Beecham, and in 1991 SmithKline Beecham moved its global headquarters to New
Horizons Court located in Brentford, England. In 2000, SmithKline Beecham merged
with Glaxo Wellcome creating GlaxoSmithKline that today is one of the world’s leading
research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
1848 -- American Association for the Advancement of Science founded.
American Association for the Advancement of Science founded in 1848
marked the emergence of a national scientific community in the United States, and was the first organization
established to promote the development of science and engineering at the national level and to represent the interests of
all its disciplines.
Today, the AAAS serves nearly 300 affiliated societies and academies of science and publishes the
peer-reviewed general science journal Science. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance
science and serve society" through initiatives that include science policy, international programs, science education,
and public understanding of science.
1859 -- Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species."
In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life"
in which he postulated his theory of evolution that explained how the diverse of
species on Earth evolved from a simple, singled-celled ancestor.
From 1831-1836, Darwin served as a naturalist aboard the H.M.S. Beagle -- a British
science expedition around the world. In South America Darwin discovered fossils of extinct animals
that were similar to modern species, and on the Galapagos Islands, located west of Equador,
he noticed many variations of plants and animals of the same general type as those in
South America. Throughout the expedition Darwin studied plants and animals
and collected specimens for further study.
Upon his return to London, Darwin conducted thorough research of his notes and specimens, and
out of his study grew several related theories: evolution did occur; evolutionary
change was gradual, requiring thousands to millions of years; the primary mechanism for
evolution was a process called natural selection; and the millions of species alive
today arose from a single original life form through a branching process called "specialization."
Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within species occurs randomly
and that the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism's ability
to adapt to its environment. Darwin's theory of evolution remains the foundation of modern
biology.
1865 -- Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, presents his laws of heredity.
"In 1859 I obtained a very fertile
descendant with large, tasty seeds from a first generation hybrid. Since in the following
year, its progeny retained the desirable characteristics and were uniform, the variety was
cultivated in our vegetable garden, and many plants were raised every year up to
1865. (Gregor Mendel to Carl Nägeli, April 1867).
MendelWeb:
An educational resource for teachers and students.
1887 -- Marine Hospital Service Hygienic Laboratory (National Institutes of Health) founded.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) traces its roots to 1887,
when a one-room laboratory was created within the Marine Hospital Service (MHS), predecessor agency to the
U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). The MHS was established in 1798 to provide for the medical care of
merchant seamen -- charged by Congress with examining passengers on arriving ships for clinical signs of
infectious diseases, such as cholera and yellow fever, to prevent epidemics.
During the 1870s and 1880s, scientists in Europe presented compelling evidence that microscopic organisms
were the causes of several infectious diseases, and MHS officials closely followed these developments.
In 1887, Joseph Kinyoun, a MHS physician trained in the new bacteriological
methods, set up a one-room laboratory in the Marine Hospital at Stapleton, Staten Island,
New York. Kinyoun called this facility a "laboratory of hygiene" in imitation of German facilities, and within
a few months, he identified the cholera bacillus and used his Zeiss microscope to
demonstrate it to his colleagues as confirmation of their clinical diagnoses.
The Biologics Control Act enacted in 1902 had major consequences for the Hygienic Laboratory. It charged
the laboratory with regulating the production of vaccines and antitoxins, making it a regulatory agency
four years before passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. The danger posed by biological products that had
emerged from bacteriologic discoveries resulted from their production in animals and their administration by
injection. In 1901, thirteen children in St. Louis died after receiving diphtheria antitoxin contaminated
with tetanus spores. This tragedy spurred Congress to pass the Biologics Control Act, and between 1903-1907
standards were established and licenses issued to pharmaceutical firms for making smallpox and rabies vaccines,
diphtheria and tetanus antitoxins, and various other antibacterial antisera. (In 1972, responsibility
for regulation of biologics was transferred to the Food and Drug Administration).
(Photo: courtesy of the NIH Almanac)
In 1912 MHS was reorganized, renamed the Public Health Service (PHS)
and authorized to conduct research into noncontagious diseases and into the pollution of
streams and lakes in the U.S. During World War I, the PHS attended primarily to sanitation of areas
around military bases in the U.S., and when the 1918 influenza pandemic struck Washington, physicians from the
laboratory were pressed into service treating patients in the District of Columbia because so many local
doctors had fallen ill. In 1930, the Ransdell Act changed the name of the Hygienic Laboratory to the National Institute
of Health (NIH) and authorized the establishment of fellowships for research into basic biological and medical
problems. The roots of this act extended to 1918, when chemists who had worked with the Chemical Warfare
Service in World War I sought to establish an institute in the private sector to apply fundamental knowledge
in chemistry to problems of medicine. In 1937, the National
Cancer Institute (NCI) was created with sponsorship from every Senator in Congress, and was authorized
to award grants to nonfederal scientists for research on cancer and to fund fellowships at NCI for young
researchers.
During World War II, the NIH focused almost entirely on war-related problems. At the close of the war,
PHS leaders guided through Congress the 1944 Public Health Service Act, which defined the shape of medical
research in the post-war world. Two provisions were especially important: 1) In 1946 the NCI grants program was
expanded to the entire NIH, and the program grew from just over $4 million in 1947, to more than $100 million in
1957, and to $1 billion in 1974. The entire NIH budget expanded from $8 million in 1947 to more than $1 billion in
1966, now fondly remembered as "the golden years" of NIH expansion.
Accompanying growth in the grants program was the proliferation of new categorical institutes, and from
1946-1949, voluntary health organizations moved Congress to create institutes for research on mental health,
dental diseases, and heart disease. In 1948, language in the National Heart Act made the name of the
umbrella organization the National Institutes of Health. 2) The 1944 PHS Act authorized NIH to conduct clinical
research, and after the war Congress provided funding to build a research hospital, now called the Warren
Grant Magnuson Clinical Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The Center which opened in 1953 with 540 beds
was designed to bring research laboratories into close proximity with hospital wards in order to promote
productive collaboration between laboratory scientists and clinicians.
(Photo: National Archives and Records Administration photograph, courtesy of the Franklin Delano
Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York)
The NIH today, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency
for conducting and supporting medical research and is composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, providing
leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.
1897 -- Pocono Biological Laboratories established in Swiftwater.
Pocono Biological Laboratories established in Swiftwater by Dr. Richard Slee
to produce the first of a new kind of smallpox vaccine. Dr. Edward Jenner’s vaccine had greatly
reduced the death rate from smallpox, but until the late 1800's the smallpox vaccine in the U.S.
was produced in unsanitary conditions that caused serious side effects in patients. Public
backlash caused gains in inoculating the masses to erode. Dr. Slee, who was working as an
assistant to Dr. George Sternberg in Brooklyn was dispatched to the Pasteur Institute in
France to acquire a new formula that promised fewer side effects. The Pasteur Institute had
mixed the mild disinfectant glycerin with the vaccine virus.
Slee's report was so positive that Sternberg suggested he establish his
own laboratory to manufacture the glycerinated product. Slee had earlier contracted cholera
and recouperated at the Swiftwater Inn in the Pocono Mountains, regaining his
health and forming a relationship with the innkeeper's daughter. They married in 1893, and
Slee used the 4.3 acres near the Inn to build his lab, and laid the cornerstone to the first
building in 1897.
Ownership changes over the years led
to the acquisition of the Swiftwater facility by Connaught Laboratories of Toronto, Canada
in 1978. In 1989, Connaught Laboratories was acquired by Institut Mérieux S.A. which was
purchased acquired by Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1994. Today, the Swiftwater facility owned by
Sanofi Pasteur continues to play an important
role in the company's public health initiatives.
(Suggested Reading: The Spirit of
Swiftwater: 100 Years at the Pocono Labs by Jeff Widmer)
1904 -- American Oncologic Hospital (Fox Chase Cancer Center) founded.
American Oncologic Hospital (Fox Chase Cancer Center) charterd in
November 1904 as the nation's first cancer hospital, called American Oncologic Hospital. Since its modest start in a
West Philadelphia Victorian home, the institution has remained a national leader in cancer care. The Hospital was
built on the vision and optimism of 13 business and professional men, including a number of physicians, who were
concerned about rising cancer rates in Philadelphia. At that time, cancer was widely considered incurable.
During this time, many discoveries in cancer research were made by Fox Chase scientists, including the hepatitis B
vaccine, developed in the laboratory of Baruch S. Blumberg, MD, PhD. Dr. Blumberg is accompanied by Fox Chase scientist
Irwin A. "Ernie" Rose, PhD. as a laureate of the prestigious Nobel prize. The advances made by Fox Chase doctors have
contributed to the availability of improved cancer treatments, not only at Fox Chase, but around the globe.
Today, the 100-bed Hospital of Fox Chase Cancer Center remains one of the few facilities in the country devoted
entirely to cancer care. It is nationally recognized for its leadership in medical, radiation and surgical oncology.
1918 -- Spanish Influenza Pandemic.
It is estimated that between 25 and 40 million people died
from the the influenza outbreak that began in 1918, swept across America in a week and
around the world in three months. In all, between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans
--civilians and soldiers-- died from the influenza, more than were lost in World War I,
II, and the Korean and Viet Nam wars combined.
Latest Findings:
In September 2004, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a five-year,
$12.5 million grant to five institutions that will collaborate to study
genes constructed from 1918 flu-virus particles salvaged from the bodies of World
War I soldiers and the exhumed Brevig Mission, Alaska resident. The Institutions include
the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C.; Mount Sinai School of Medicine,
New York; Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA; the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention; and the University of Washington. The ultimate goal is to use knowledge
gained from the study to develop vaccines, influenza medications and diagnostic tests to
prevent a similar influenza outbreak.
1933 -- Thomas Hunt Morgan awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his
chromosome theory of heredity.
Thomas Hunt Morgan pioneered the new science of genetics through experimental
research with the fruit fly (Drosophila), laying the foundations for the future of biology. On
the basis of fly-breeding experiments he demonstrated that genes are linked in a series on
chromosomes and that they determine indentifiable, hereditary traits.
1947 -- Transistor invented at AT&T's Bell Laboratories.
The transistor, the invention that marked the dawn of the
information age, was invented by John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain at AT&T's Bell Laboratories. Bardeen,
Shockley and Brattain were awarded the 1956
Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the transistor effect.
1952 -- First polio vaccine created by Dr. Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh.
IPV (Inactivated Polio Vaccine), also called the Salk vaccine, was developed by Dr. Jonas
Salk in 1952. The vaccine is a clear, colorless sterile suspension for subcutaneous injection.
IPV contains strains of the 3 types of polioviruses (Types 1, 2, and 3), originally grown in
monkey kidney cell culture and inactivated by exposure to formaldehyde. Clinical trials of IPV
began in 1954, and results were dramatic: the cases of polio in the vaccinated test groups fell
amazingly, and permission for IPV distribution was quickly granted by the U.S. government in
1955.
1953 -- Double helix structure of DNA revealed.
The double helix structure of DNA, the hereditary molecule is revealed by
two scientists, James D. Watson and Francis Crick. This is one of the key
discoveries of the century. Watson and Crick shared the 1962
Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with Maurice Wilkins for their discoveries
concerning the molecular structure of nuclear acids and its significance for information
transfer in living material.
Jack Kilby, an engineer at
Texas Instruments shows only a transistor and other components on a slice of
germanium. This invention (7/16-by-1/16-inches in size), called an integrated
circuit, revolutionized the electronics industry. Kilby was awarded
the 2000 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his invention of the integrated circuit.
(Photo: Jack Kilby courtesy of Texas Instruments)
1961 -- President John F. Kennedy expands U.S. Space Program
Listen to President John F. Kennedy's speech in
his historic message to a joint session of the Congress, on May 25, 1961 declared,
"...I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade
is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." This goal was
achieved when astronaut Neil A. Armstrong became the first human to set foot upon the
Moon at 10:56 p.m. EDT, July 20, 1969. Shown in the background are, (left) Vice
President Lyndon Johnson, and (right) Speaker of the House Sam T. Rayburn. The expansion of
the U.S. Space Program resulted in the development of a wide range of technology with
enormous benefit to human and animal kind.
(Photo: Courtesy of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration)
1962 -- "Silent Spring" published by Rachel Carson.
Rachel Carson who published
Silent Spring
which launched the modern environmental movement was born in Springdale in 1907,
and her childhood in southwestern Pennsylvania nurtured a love and respect for nature which
would guide her the rest of her life. Silent Spring warned of the dangers of indiscriminate
pesticide use.
Carson graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham College) in 1929,
studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, and received her MA in zoology
from Johns Hopkins University in 1932.
The Rachel Carson Homestead Association was was formed in 1975 to preserve and
restore her birth place as a National Register historic site, and to offer education
programs which advance Rachel Carson's environmental ethic.
(Silent Spring Published by Mariner Books, 40th Anniverisary edition. 2002.)
1967 -- Haldan Keffer Hartline awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.
In July of 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, American astronauts, made
history by becoming the first men to walk on the moon.
Listen to Neil Armstrong's first words as he steps onto the lunar
surface (66 kb .wav file).
(Photo: Courtesy of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration)
An important benefit of the Apollo Lunar Program and
other NASA programs is the ever-growing pipeline of technology that improves human and
veterinary healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics.
1969 -- Victor McKusick publishes "Mendelian Inheritance in Man".
Victor McKusick, widely acknowledged as the father of medical genetics, spent his career studying
the genetic basis of diseases and disorders with the belief that such an understanding could lead
to new methods of diagnosis and treatment. He studied, identified, and mapped genes responsible for
inherited conditions such as Marfan syndrome and dwarfism (specifically in Amish communities).
In 1969, he proposed the idea of mapping the human genome, over 30 years before the Human
Genome Project was established.
McKusick, a graduate of Johns Hopkins (M.D. 1946), spent his entire career there and founded
the Division of Medical Genetics in 1957, the first research center and clinic of its kind. In
1969 he published the 1st edition of his
book "Mendelian Inheritance of Man",
one of the most comprehensive collections of inherited disease genes. In 2002, McKusick received the
highest scientific honor in the U.S., the National Medal of Science.
1971 -- NASDAQ Stock Market founded.
Nasdaq, founded February 8, 1971, is now the largest U.S. electronic stock
market. With approximately 3,300 companies, it lists more companies and, on
average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. NASDAQ is
home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including
technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media,
biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical.
The modern era of biotechnology begins when Stanley Cohen of
Stanford University and Herbert Boyer of the University of
California at San Francisco successfully recombine ends of bacterial DNA after splicing a
toad gene in between. They call their accomplishment recombinant DNA,
but the media prefers using the term genetic engineering. (Photo: Courtesy Stanley Cohen)
1973 -- Abramson Cancer Center founded.
The Cancer Center was formally established in 1973, by a dedicated group of cancer specialists committed to
offering cancer patients the newest and most innovative therapeutic advances. Originally its goal was to demonstrate that
with appropriate therapy cancer patients could be cured of their disease.
In June 2002, the Cancer Center was renamed the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania in recognition
of the extraordinary support of Leonard and Madlyn Abramson and family. Abramson's wife, Madlyn is a cancer survivor,
and the couple pledged $100 million to build the Abramson Cancer Research Institute. Leonard Abramson, founder
and CEO of U.S. Healthcare, is a major philanthropist in the Philadelphia area and headed U.S. Healthcare
from 1975-1996 until it was sold to Aetna for $8.3 billion.
The Abramson Cancer Center is one of a select group of cancer centers in the country awarded the prestigious
designation of Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. This status, which has been awarded to
the Abramson Cancer Center continuously for the past 30 years, reflects their outstanding research, clinical services,
education services and community outreach. Today, the Cancer Center has expanded to over 300 faculty
organized in divisions that seek to prevent, diagnose and cure cancer through the development of new knowledge, diagnostic
tests and therapies.
1974 -- Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
John N. Erlenborn, the ranking Republican on the House Committee, was responsible for
bringing the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to a floor vote, and
is one of the ERISA’s "Founding Fathers." Together with Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY), Senator
Pete Williams (D-NJ) and Congressman John Dent (D-PA), Erlenborn crafted provisions and
participated in negotiations that were instrumental to the enactment of ERISA which was - and
remains - the single most important legislation governing employee benefit plans in the United
States providing an important source of financial investment for the stock market.
(Photos: Jacob Javits and Pete Williams courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office).
1975 -- Monoclonal antibodies produced.
In 1975, Georges Köhler and César Milstein, showed how monoclonal antibodies can be generated by
isolating individual fused myeloma cells.
1976 -- Genentech, founder of the biotechnology industry, established.
In 1976, Genentech was founded by venture capitalist
Robert Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert Boyer. In the early 1970s, Boyer and
geneticist Stanley Cohen at Stanford University pioneered recombinant DNA technology.
Excited by the breakthrough, Swanson called Boyer who agreed to give the young entrepreneur
10 minutes of his time. Swanson's enthusiasm for the technology resulted in a three hour meeting
and at its conclusion, Genentech was born.
Within a few short years Swanson and Boyer invented a new industry - biotechnology.
In 1980, Genentech issued its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and raised $35 million
with an offering that jumped from $35 a share to a high of $88 after less than an hour on the
market. The event was one of the largest stock run-ups ever, and that event set the stage for
future biotechnolgy industry offerings.
Genentech was initially broadly focused in three areas including food processing,
industrial chemicals, and human health care. In 1982, Eli Lilly & Co. which had acquired
worldwide rights to Genenetch's recombinant human insulin (1978) received FDA approval to
market the product -- the first biotechnology therapeutic to reach the marketplace.
Beginning in 1983, Genentech became solely focused on human therapeutics
and diagnostics, and in 1985, Genentech received approval from FDA to market its first product,
Protropin® (somatrem for injection) growth hormone for children with growth hormone deficiency
— the first recombinant pharmaceutical product to be manufactured and marketed by a
biotechnology company. In 1990, Genentech and Roche Holding Ltd. of Basel, Switzerland completed a
$2.1 billion merger. Today, Genentech is among the world's leading biotech companies with
multiple protein-based products on the market for serious or life-threatening medical
conditions.
1976 -- Baruch Samuel Blumberg awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Centocor, founded in 1979, was one of the nation’s first biotechnology companies best known for developing
Remicade (a drug for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease). The company founder, Hubert J.P. Schoemaker a Dutch-born
biochemist, served as chairman of the company until 1999 when the company was acquired by Johnson & Johnson
for $4.9 billion.
Schoemaker, a highly respected leader for the life sciences community in Pennsylvania, was a mentor
to many biotechnology entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia area. Schoemaker also founded Neuronyx,
a Malvern, PA based company that uses stem cells to treat neurological and cardiovascular diseases. Schoemaker
died of brain cancer in Paoli, Pennsylvania on January 1, 2006.
1980 -- U.S. Supreme Court ruled man-made organism patentable.
Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds five-to-four the patentability of
genetically altered organisms, opening the door to greater patent protection for any
modified life forms.
In 1972, Chakrabarty, a microbiologist, filed a patent
application, assigned to the General Electric Co. for a human-made genetically engineered
bacterium capable of breaking down multiple components of crude oil. Because of this
property, which is possessed by no naturally occurring bacteria, Chakrabarty's invention
was believed to have significant value for the treatment of oil spills. The application
asserted 36 claims related to Chakrabarty's invention of "a bacterium from the genus
Pseudomonas containing therein at least two stable energy-generating plasmids, each of
said plasmids providing a separate hydrocarbon degradative pathway.
Opinions: Chief Justice Warren Burger delivered the opinion
of the Court, in which justices Potter Stewart, Harry Blackmun, William Rehnquist, and
John Paul Stevens joined. William Brennan filed a dissenting opinion, in which Byron
White, Thurgood Marshall, and Lewis Powell joined.
1980 -- Bayh-Dole Act provides for university technology transfer.
H.R.6933, Public Law: 96-517, December 12, 1980. A bill to amend title
35 of the United States Code. This Act known as the Bayh-Dole Act provided for the legal transfer of research and
technology originating from U.S. universities and federal laboratories to private
companies for commercialization. Technology transfer offices are now common in
universities and federal laboratories and are the technology foundation for numerous
biotechnology and medical device companies. (Photos: Birch Bayh and
Robert Dole courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office)
Pennsylvania
Technology Transfer Resources -- A comprehensive listing of technology transfer
resources in the state of Pennsylvania, and select national and international resources.
1982 -- Chemical Heritage Foundation established.
In 1980 a group of scientists and industrialists concluded that the time had come to found a
national history center devoted to the chemical and molecular sciences and industries. In 1982
the Center for the History of Chemistry (CHOC) was launched as a pilot project of the University
of Pennsylvania and the American Chemical Society (ACS). In 1984 the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers (AIChE) became the third sponsor.
In 1987 the Center was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, now named the National
Foundation for the History of Chemistry, by joint action of the ACS and AIChE. In 1992 the
Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) assumed its present
name to better reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the sciences and industries it serves and
the widening public scope of its activities. The CHF serves the community of the chemical and
molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and
inspiring the future. Today CHF enjoys the endorsement and support of 29 affiliated
organizations.
1985 -- Michael Stuart Brown awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.
The U.S. Human Genome
Project was established -- a 13-year effort coordinated by the U.S.
Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The project, originally
planned to last 15 years, was expected to be completed by 2003 due to
rapid technological advances.
Project Goals
Identify all the estimated 80,000 genes in human DNA,
Determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical bases that make up human DNA,
Store this information in databases,
Develop tools for data analysis, and
Address the ethical, legal, and social issues that may arise from the project.
1993 -- Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) founded.
Biotechnology Industry
Organization is the world's largest organization to serve and represent the
biotechnology industry. BIO's leadership and service-oriented guidance have helped advance
the industry and bring the benefits of biotechnology to people everywhere.
1993 -- Kary B. Mullis awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
PCR allows scientists to quickly replicate small strands of DNA, greatly simplifying
the sequencing and cloning of genes. First presented in 1985, PCR has become one of
the most widespread methods of analyzing DNA. Notably, PCR requires the heat-stable enzyme
Taq (Thermus Aquaticus) which originated from hot springs located in Yellowstone
National Park.
1997 -- PA Early Stage Partners founded.
PA Early Stage Partners, founded in 1997,
is a venture capital fund that seeks portfolio companies located in the corridor from New York to Washington, D.C., with a primary
focus on companies located in Pennsylvania. PA Early Stage invests in early stage Technology and Life Sciences companies,
typically as a lead or co-lead investor. PA Early Stage currently has approximately 30 active portfolio companies and more than
$235 million under management across three venture funds. PA Early Stage has been at the forefront of successfully accelerating
this innovation cycle and closing this "capital gap" in Pennsylvania and the surrounding region by making investments in
promising early stage ventures.
1997 -- Stanley B. Prusiner awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine.
2001 -- Human Genome Project draft sequence published.
The February 16 issue of Science and February
15 issue of Nature contained the working draft of the human genome
sequence (U.S. Human Genome
Project). Nature papers included initial analysis of the descriptions of the sequence
generated by the publicly sponsored Human Genome Project, while Science publications focused
on the draft sequence reported by the private company, Celera Genomics.
2001 -- The Tobacco Settlement (Act 77 of 2001) signed into law.
Pennsylvania, in the largest life sciences research, development and commercialization
initiative ever funded by a single state, committed $2 billion in funding (19 percent from its
share of the national tobacco settlement) for the growth of the industry. Main components of the
initiative included a $1.6 billion investment in life sciences and biomedical research
(approximately $64 million per year for 25 years, starting in 2002), $100 million to seed three
Life Sciences Greenhouses and $60 million in venture capital funding to support commercialization
of demonstrated new life science business opportunities.
Each is a public/private partnership (affiliating government, business, universities and
economic development partners) intending to accelerate economic growth and create numerous jobs.
These objectives are being realized by leveraging discoveries in the life sciences through
accelerated technology transfer, shared lab and equipment opportunities, technology development
funding, gap funding for new start-ups, patent protection funding, relocation assistance,
business services and workforce development. The opportunities provided by this collaborative
approach to information sharing are enormous. Advances in regenerative medicine and tissue
engineering, bionanofabrication, advanced robotics, bioinformatics, accelerated platforms for
drug discovery and linked centers for clinical trials have been realized. The Greenhouse
Initiative provides an innovative mechanism for the commercialization of Life Science business
opportunities through transferring technology from research laboratories to entrepreneurial
start-up companies, enhancing collaboration between academic, entrepreneurial, corporate,
financial and governmental partners, and attracting new companies to the state.
2009 -- LANXESS Corporation selects Pennsylvania for U.S. Headquarters.
LANXESS Corporation announced that it has chosen
Findlay Township, Allegheny County, outside Pittsburgh for its U.S. headquarters. The company
pledged to make Allegheny County the seat of its corporate headquarters and laboratories
for its U.S. businesses, including a portion of the sales and marketing office supporting its Akron, Ohio,
rubber marketing activities. The Pittsburgh headquarters will employ up to 435 persons. The company also pledged to
invest approximately $10 million in Pennsylvania over the next three years.
The Commonwealth agreed to make available to LANXESS up to $872,000 in a Pennsylvania Opportunity Grant,
$554,000 in job-training assistance, and $435,000 in job creation tax credits. Allegheny County pledged a
Community Development Block Grant of up to $200,000.
LANXESS was formed when the Bayer Group combined most of its chemical businesses and large segments of its
polymer activities. The company began operating as a legal entity in the United States on July 1, 2004.
LANXESS Corporation will be a member of the newly formed LANXESS Group. Bayer intends to divest itself of
LANXESS through a spin-off, which would lead to a distribution of LANXESS shares to Bayer AG shareholders.
In the United States, LANXESS products are manufactured at 10 sites: Addyston, Chardon, and Newark OH;
Birmingham and Trenton, NJ; New Martinsville, WV; Bushy Park Industrial Park and Wellford, SC; and Orange and
Baytown, TX.
2009 -- Year of Science launched by the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science.
Year of Science
launched by the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) will embark on a celebratory
journey with you to share how science works, what it is like to be a scientist, and why science matters.
In nearly every state, participants in the celebration will demonstrate how we know about our natural world
and why science continues to be so vitally important to our communities, our country, and the world.
Other Resources
Suggested
Science Education Reading -- A list of select biotechnology and other science related books to help you understand the world of biotechnology.
Suggested CEO Reading
-- A list of select books recommended by some of the nation's leading chief
executive officers from the biotechnology, medical technology and related industry.
Tell us about Pennsylvania's BioHistory. If you are aware of a notable event, person,
organization/company or accomplishment that we should include,
please e-mail: BioHistory@InfoResource.org
The 
Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds five-to-four the patentability of
genetically altered organisms, opening the door to greater patent protection for any
modified life forms.
The 
