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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Biotech Logic and Initiative 1098

How hard is it to attract the right people to your cargo cult airport? Cargo cult airport technicians are people of great logic. Whether they work in the watch tower with coconuts over their ears with sticks for antennas, or whether they wrap a wire around their body and serve as a radio, they don't want to pay taxes.

So says the CEO of Dendreon.

Dendreon CEO Mitchell Gold says more is to come. "My goal is to build a fully integrated biotech company in Seattle," he says. The company envisions a campus of buildings that would include a pilot manufacturing plant.

This, to remind you, is for a drug treatment that costs 93K for one round. Mostly well to do cancer patients will be treated. Poor folks will mercifully die sooner.

Back to the article:

"And that requires the hiring of top talent from around the United States, says Rich Ranieri, the company's head of human resources. The need is for scientific talent and also commercial talent specific to biotechnology — a talent pool that has not existed in Seattle since the sale of Immunex in 2002. And that means recruiting men and women from the big biotech centers in Massachusetts, New Jersey and California.

Some people in those states jump at the chance to move to Seattle, but many do not. This is not the center of their universe. A recruiter needs enticements — and one of ours is no state income tax.

"Having no state income tax is an attractive tool for us," says Ranieri. "It matters."

For this city, biotech matters. It is part of our future. Let's not mess it up Initiative 1098."

The gist of the initiative is that people earning over 400K year will have to pay an income tax.

My favorite comment from the online responses:

"Dendreon hopes to make its money selling $93,000
treatments for doctors to prescribe to old rapidly dying men for a 4 month survival "benefit". Who will pay the $93000 to Dendreon? Mainly taxpayers paying into the Medicare system.
Who does the money go to? A CO. w/ management that wants its taxes lowered!
What a country!"

Priceless

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