The 2005 Milken Institute report determined that Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences standing is 3^rd overall in the nation (behind only Boston and Greater San Francisco). Since the report did not take into account the vast services and support infrastructure in our region, BioAdvance believed that the true story of the richness of life sciences here in the Philadelphia area has yet to be told.  

To better capture the infrastructure available in the region, BioAdvance collaborated with the University City Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) and Select Greater Philadelphia in FY 2007 to design and successfully launch the GPLSG – a free online directory of the region’s core life sciences companies, and the organizations and service providers that support the biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors.  The Guide includes contact information, locations and brief descriptions of pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech companies and also includes organizations, companies and individuals who provide capital, real estate, legal, accounting, and IT support to this sector as well as those who provide expertise in business development, contract research, product development, laboratory services, regulatory, reimbursement and marketing activities. 

The GPLSG was launched by the co-sponsors and other participating organizations[1] at the annual BIO conference in May 2007, with hundreds of organizations already listed.  The directory continues to expand, with more than 600 organizations and companies now registered (www.look4science.com).   The GPLSG already has enabled our academic institutions to access resources to support emerging technologies, and has allowed our regional entrepreneurs to locate appropriate expertise to guide their product development activities.  Equally important, the availability of this directory has become a powerful marketing tool to attract international companies, by demonstrating the depth and breadth of resources in the Philadelphia region.

Select Greater Philadelphia continues to sponsor the technical infrastructure (with continuing feedback from BioAdvance) and manages the timely updates of the directory. The three co-sponsors are now developing the scope and infrastructure for the next phase of this initiative, which is to capture the region's scientific talent at academic institutions.  The goal is to launch this second phase in FY08.