NEW YORK, March 27-Biotech investment jumped about 18 percent last year in Connecticut, according to an analysis released yesterday evening by an industry group.
In 2001, biomedical R&D spending in Connecticut climbed to $3.6 billion, up from $3.1 billion in 2000.
Most of that investment came from pharmaceutical companies, which plowed nearly $3 billion into the sector in 2001. Biotech firms accounted for only about $277 million of the total research investment.
The sector added roughly 500 new jobs last year in the state, for a total Connecticut biomedical labor force of about 16,500.
The analysis, part of an annual economic report, was conducted by Connecticut United for Research Excellence, a state umbrella group for biomedical researchers in industry and academia.
Research firms in the survey included Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cellular Genomics, CuraGen Corporation, Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, and Protein Sciences Corporation. Academic institutes included the University of Connecticut and Yale University.