"The next cure for cancer, the next treatment for Alzheimer's, the next treatment for whatever, may come from the waters off P.E.I." Dr. Russell Kerr

Creating a bioscience industry on Prince Edward Island is about two things. It's about big dreams like that of Dr. Russell Kerr, who just came to UPEI from the University of Florida to accept a Canada Research Chair in marine natural products chemistry.

Specialized equipment at the new NRC institute create images which allow for rapid identification of compounds and their effects on cells.

His work seeking medicines in algae, sponges and corals from the ocean could benefit people all over the world. But it's also about a smaller-scale dream, a dream where Islanders see a chance for meaningful work and good financial prospects in the province of their birth.

P.E.I. has a long history of building its economy on living things in its environment, through farming, fishing and forestry. In the past, those industries fulfilled the dream of meaningful work and good financial prospects, but they are now under threat as prices for commodities go down and costs rise.

In his state of the province address for 2007, Premier Pat Binns discussed how he sees the bioscience industry as a way to revive those traditional industries by giving them new products to harvest.

"For many years, we've wanted to develop a bioscience industry in the province, to do something to commercialize products that we would normally grow but sell on the commodity markets," said Binns.

"We wanted to sell in higher value markets: do the research, do the commercialization and turn these products into something more valuable."

P.E.I. is not alone in this line of thinking. Every province and state in North America has targeted bioscience as an area for economic development. P.E.I. has a lot of competition when it comes to attracting and retaining the people it will need to build this industry.

Fortunately it has some things working in its favour.

First of all, with the official opening of the National Research Council's Institute of Nutrisciences and Health building this month, the province has completed a solid research infrastructure. The NRC joins UPEI and its Atlantic Veterinary College, Agriculture Canada and the Food Technology Centre in creating an impressive research centre. In some areas, such as marine invertebrates, P.E.I. is a recognized world leader.

Secondly, P.E.I. is not simply hopping on the bioscience bandwagon. The initiative to create the BioAlliance - combining government, research institutions and industry - came largely from the private sector, which saw the benefits of working together to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

Mitch Cormier looks at research currently being done in bioscience on P.E.I., and how it could develop into a new industry.
(runs 6:00)

"The cluster is much more than the NRC. We're just a part of it," says Michael Mayne, the research director at the new Institute of Nutrisciences and Health.

"It was the community that drove this."

Bioscience is not starting from scratch in the province. The sector currently employs about 700 people and generates $60 million in revenue annually. The growth is there as well: the number of jobs and the revenue have climbed by 35 per cent since 2003 when the NRC first started operations on the Island.

The BioAlliance has set ambitious goals: 1,400 employed and $200 million in revenue by 2017. That growth would come from current companies, the birth of new companies and attracting - by reputation, not subsidies - companies from outside the province.

As part of the plan for creating that growth, the provincial government has provided generous tax breaks for bioscience companies. Bioscience companies with more than 10 employees and an annual payroll greater than $750,000 are eligible to receive a full rebate on their provincial corporate income taxes for up to 10 years.

"To attract people we had to put in place the proper incentives," says Development Minister Mike Currie.

"We engaged the industry to find out what we thought would be competitive so we could attract the proper scientists and research people to come to P.E.I."

Michael Mayne

A year and a half after the BioAlliance was established, Mayne is already seeing evidence that the hoped-for growth is happening.

"What I've really been encouraged to see is now we've got people moving from company to company," he says.

"In our own shop here, we have issues where we've got really talented technical staff - they're being lured away by companies. I think that's terrific, because what that means is we've got growth all around us. That's the sign of a very healthy biotechnology cluster that's growing."

The BioAlliance's proponents argue that, for too long, the Island has lived and died by the potato and the lobster. They say their intention isn't to replace those industries - but to add to them.

"It just makes your economy more balanced," says Mike Currie.

"If you have a good year in potatoes, that's fine and if you have a bad year, it really hurts. With these other industries starting up - aerospace and IT and financial services - it balances out that."

For all the success the Island has had in building a research infrastructure, however impressive, it is not the same as building an industry cluster. The province has made a significant first step, but it still has to prove it can compete for the people and dollars it will need to build this industry.