Dec 7, 2005

In state economic heft, bioscience beats beer

In the past two years, Wisconsin's growing bioscience industry surpassed beer as an economic force in the state, according to a report to be released Wednesday in Madison.

The state's bioscience industry - 338 companies strong - generates $6.38 billion in revenue and pulls in $582 million of research funding from out-of-state sources. That adds up to a direct economic impact of more than $6.9 billion, says a Bioscience Wisconsin 2006 report that will be issued Wednesday by the Wisconsin Association for Biomedical Research and Education.