Maryland knows biotech. The state may be small in size but it's limitless in the scope of what it can offer the biotech industry, especially to young start-up companies. The state is a hotbed of development in science from genomics to bioinformatics, and everything in between.

If it's new and exciting, you can bet it's happening in Maryland.

Chesapeake PERL Inches Toward Success

Make no mistake about it. Young biotech company Chesapeake PERL is indeed inching toward success, but perhaps not in the way you might imagine. No, the company is not inching slowly toward success; quite the contrary. It's using cabbage looper caterpillars as tiny protein factories, or mini bioreactors, to get there.

The College Park company got its start from research done at the University of Maryland and was incorporated in 1998.

And what exactly does the company do? Picture mass amounts of caterpillar larvae that can produce proteins for use in drugs or other diagnostic tests. And picture them turning fluorescent pink in the process. That's right - pink.

Chesapeake PERL founders say the process can provide large volumes of proteins and antibodies more cheaply than other methods.

Maryland was instrumental in helping the company get off the ground.

"The state supports and understands the needs of biotech companies," said Terry Chase, president of Chesapeake PERL. "It has specific programs in place, as well as analysts, to help biotech companies."

Chase outlined numerous benefits she has received from the state, including funding assistance and a variety of other forms of help, such as introductions to investors, which resulted in investment; introduction to business partners; access to free legal, accounting and consulting services; licensing help; and advice and referrals.

The Biotech Bandwagon

State and local assistance was also instrumental in helping Gene Logic Inc. expand operations earlier this year in Montgomery County, Md. The bioscience company received $450,000 in state funding that went toward helping Gene Logic add 240 new jobs and retain 126 jobs.

The genomics-based biocontent and bioinformatics company anticipates completing its expansion by December 2003. The company currently leases 113,000 square feet in Montgomery County, as well as 50,000 square feet at its Gaithersburg headquarters. As part of the multi-phased expansion project, Gene Logic plans to lease an additional 138,000 square feet in Montgomery County.

Infinite Biomedical Technologies, a California medical device maker, also jumped on Maryland's biotech bandwagon when it said last year that it would move its headquarters to Baltimore.

From Automotive to Allstate

There are a variety of other industries also thriving in Maryland.

In May, AB Volvo, parent company of Mack Trucks Inc., selected the Hagerstown Mack Powertrain Operations as the site of its North American manufacturing operations for heavy-duty diesel engines for Volvo and Mack trucks. The project was good news to the plant's 1,200 employees.

Giant Food Inc. in May said it would build a new distribution facility in Howard County. The facility will ensure the retention of 550 jobs once it is completed in 2003.

Allstate, the nation's largest publicly held insurance company, announced plans earlier this year to consolidate and expand its Maryland and Northern Virginia offices into three new Maryland facilities. The consolidation will retain 469 jobs and create at least an additional 156 new jobs.