Lt. Gov. Brown addresses Maryland life sciences companies at the 2013 Bio International Convention

Lt. Governor Anthony Brown addressed leaders in Maryland’s life sciences industry, both to offer thanks and ensure continued state-sponsored investment, during the 2013 Bio International Convention Wednesday morning.

“For all of the hard choices that we had to make, we never stopped investing in our biotech industry, because we know how important you are. You represent one of the strongest work horses in our economy and you offer a tremendous return on investment,” he said.

Brown reinforced Governor Martin O’Malley’s BioMaryland 2020 initiative, which calls for more than $1.3 billion in state-sponsored investments in the life sciences industry between 2010 and 2020. As of 2013, the state has already invested more than $600 million.

These investments have elevated or maintained the state’s position on several national rankings. These include the Milken Institute‘s State Technology and Science and Technology Index, which recently ranked Maryland second in the nation with an emphasis on human capital investment, research and development inputs, and technology and science work force.

“For all of our success, I think we can all agree there is still a lot of work to be done, and that’s why we remain committed to our bio sector and to our companies in the life sciences … we are dedicated to making sure that all of the cutting edge research produced here makes it to market,” he said.

Brown also praised the Maryland professionals working to address traumatic brain injuries. A panel discussion and other presentations related to traumatic brain injury prevention, diagnosis and treatment was planned at the BioMaryland pavilion following his remarks.