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The Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro), a government-affiliated trade organization, believes the Midwest can move from "flyover country" to "fly-to country" for Japanese companies seeking collaborations such as proof-of-concept partnerships or codevelopment work. One Midwest advantage: a less costly environment than other U.S. biotech hubs. Many Japanese companies have stakes on both coasts, says Tomoharu Washio, chief executive director of Jetro's Chicago office, which covers 12 midwestern states. But Japanese pharma and biotech executives have told him frankly about the arrogance they encounter on the coasts, where companies prefer to be visited rather than travel to Japan. Japan has its own flyover region. As Washio explains, U.S. businesspeople often focus on Tokyo and neglect regions like Kansai, home to Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. These cities, where many small and medium-sized companies are located, are "biotechnology zones," areas selected by the Japanese government for intensified life sciences activity. Osaka and Chicago also have been sister cities since 1973, a relationship that helps to foster bonds beyond the common sentiment of feeling a bit outshined by neighbors. In Washio's view, region-to-region cooperation offers an "international window of opportunity" to enhance the biotechnology sectors of the Midwest and the Kansai region. The idea has led to a growing number of activities--symposia, meetings, organized visits--linking life sciences clusters in Japan and the Midwest. Having Jetro as a mediator offers an advantage, says Masakazu Kobayashi, senior vice president and director of research at Fujisawa Research Institute of America in Evanston, Ill. The biotechs are first screened before he receives information, which he then transfers to R&D headquarters. Kobayashi is also chairman of Fujisawa Investments for Entrepreneurship, a fund that offers seed financing to start-ups. IN 2002, Jetro launched the Kansai-Midwest Biotechnology Initiative, which brought Midwest and Japanese executives together for six biotech symposia and included a so-called BioMission to Osaka. It followed up with the Kanto Midwest Biotechnology Initiative, including a BioMission last fall of 120 biotech executives, technology transfer specialists, and researchers to companies in eastern Japan including Tokyo. For $900 excluding airfare, BioMission participants accompanied by interpreters went on lab tours and had one-on-one meetings with pharmaceutical and biotech executives. |
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