Upper Adirondacks a Haven for Biotech Outfits
Published Apr 15, 2006
Wyeth Pharmaceutical operates a drug manufacturing plant in upstate New York. Its manufacturing facility in Rouses Point was started in 1934.
Several years ago, Sperlin’s Best Places named Albany the nation’s lowest-stress city. But drive just a couple of hours north and you’ll find an area even more relaxing and restorative – the upper Adirondacks. From the spas and sanitariums that dotted the landscape in the 19th century to generations-old family cabins, people have been coming to “the North Country” for rest, relaxation and outdoor sports. It’s entirely logical that out of this heritage has sprung an industry dedicated to bettering people’s living through biotechnology.
From agricultural research at the Miner Institute to Wyeth Pharmaceutical’s large drug manufacturing plant, upstate New York supports the biotech industry with both minds and means. The biotech story within Tech Valley starts at the U.S.-Canadian border, with Wyeth operating a manufacturing facility in Rouses Point that dates to 1934. Its 1,350 workers produce a range of over-the-counter and prescription products. Wyeth Research also has a significant research and development facility in nearby Chazy, located adjacent to the Miner Institute, a bovine and equine research campus that used to be a working farm. The upstate New York facility contributes to the nearly $2.4 billion in R&D work carried out annually by Wyeth, and an additional 300 employees there make Wyeth the largest private sector employer in the region.
Important research work is also based in the North Country, including the Trudeau Institute, a one-time sanitarium that is now the nation’s preeminent independent immunological research facility working on helping the body fight tuberculosis, cancer and AIDS-related infections.
“The Lake Placid area is somewhat isolated, but in a good way,” says Kristin Meadows, co-manager of development for Trudeau. “For our work, it doesn’t matter. There are so many ways for information to get in and out.” Meadows calls Saranac Lake “a small town but an international place,” and says it is not uncommon to see Nobel laureates wandering the streets.
While the North Country generally begins at Glens Falls, the crown jewel of biotechnology research is about an hour south in Troy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies. The center, an $80 million facility which opened in fall 2004, houses researchers and laboratories for molecular biology, analytical biochemistry, microbiology, imaging, histology, tissue and cell culture, proteomics, and scientific computing and visualization.
RPI’s influence is also partly responsible for the large number of biotech companies in Tech Valley just south of the Adirondacks. They include Albany Molecular Research, a drug research and development company; Anderson Instrument Co., which designs and manufactures sanitary process instruments for the dairy, food and beverage and biopharmaceutical industries; research lab Foster-Miller Technologies; and Regeneron, which manufactures medicines for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and eye diseases, among others.
The North Country is only as remote as one would like it to be. The Capital District is just an hour south of Adirondack Park, and Plattsburgh is just one hour from downtown Montreal. It considers itself Montreal’s “United States suburb” and hosts more than 200 U.S. subsidiaries of Quebec corporations looking to attract some 300 million potential U.S. customers, according to Garry Douglas of the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce.
Story by Jeanne A. Naujeck
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