LILSI Legislative Committee

Committte Chair(s):
Diane Fabel, Director of Operations, Center for Biotechnology
Rich Leckerling, Partner, Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna LLP

2005-2006 Legislative Agenda

Multi-Site Proposal
for Pre-Clinical Development Facilities
      LILSI has identified industry access to pre-clinical development facilities at multiple institutions across Long Island as an issue of strategic importance to the long-term growth and sustainability of the life sciences community in the region and in New York State. Although the foundation for these specialized facilities and related expertise reside within our academic research institutions, existing academic facilities are at full capacity. Therefore, LILSI proposes the establishment/expansion of pre-clinical wet laboratory research facilities across Long Island to meet the increasing academic and industrial demand for specialized research space. This unique proposal will capitalize on the academic infrastructure already in place, while offering cost effective expansion of services that will accelerate commercial product development, enhance the value of intellectual property, facilitate industry attraction, retention and expansion, and fuel job growth in the region.

Proposed Sites
Stony Brook University - Long Island High Technology Incubator
Farmingdale State University - Broad Hollow Bioscience Park
North-Shore-LIJ Institute for Medical Research - BioPartners at Lake Success
Winthrop University Hospital

Innovation Match Program to Advance and Commercialize Technology in New York (IMPACT-NY)
An SBIR/STTR Phase II Match Program
      LILSI has recognized a need to further nurture early-stage life sciences companies that are not eligible for existing support programs currently administered by the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the main economic development engines of the New York State government. Therefore, LILSI proposes that New York State take the next step to help small life sciences companies to grow through a competitive National Institutes of Health (NIH) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) matching grant program. Such a program will enhance the development of early-stage firms that have validated their science and commercialization strategy by obtaining NIH SBIR/STTR Phase II grants from the federal government. LILSI recommends that New York State provide up to $250,000 in matching funds for successfully funded NIH SBIR/STTR Phase II applications.

Enhanced-Center for Advanced Technology in Medical Biotechnology at Stony Brook University
      The Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) in Medical Biotechnology (Center for Biotechnology) at Stony Brook University has contributed to the discovery and development of some of the most commercially successful bioscience technologies in New York State including ReoPro and Periostat, and has fostered the creation of several new companies including The Collaborative Group, Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals, Curative Health Systems, Nanoprobes, STAR, Vasomedical, and Viatronix, among others. The Center for Biotechnology has fostered the growth of the biotechnology industry for two decades and has co-founded the New York Biotechnology Association (NYBA), the Long Island Life Sciences Initiative (LILSI), and the Long Island High Technology Incubator (LIHTI) program. In this way, the Center for Biotechnology has an annual economic impact in excess of $80M. Therefore, LILSI supports the expansion of funding for the Center for Biotechnology under the Enhanced-Center for Advanced Technology (E-CAT) program administered by the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR), which could provide up to $2M over 3 years.