ATLANTA – Georgia ranks seventh in the nation for the number of biotechnology companies located here, according to a new Ernst & Young report.

In just five years, the state has moved from 11th place (in 2001) to seventh place, according to Ernst & Young’s “Beyond Borders: Global Biotechnology Report 2006.” California, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania took the top six ranks.

“Georgia is a powerhouse for university research that spawns biotech companies,” said Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce President Sam A. Williams. “We are literally growing this industry from within – by turning university research into biotech companies that produce significant economic gains for the state.”

Top bioscience employers in Georgia include CIBA Vision Corp., Merial Limited, Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc., C.R. Bard Inc., UCB Pharma and many others. All told, Georgia biotech companies employ more than 10,500. This does not include the researchers, scientists and staff at the Atlanta-based headquarters of some of the nation’s top public health centers: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (6,500 scientists and researchers), the American Cancer Society, the Arthritis Foundation and the Carter Center.

“Georgia is soaring to the head of the pack in the biotechnology industry because our state, our universities and the business community have made this a priority,” Williams said. “And if you look at a map you’ll see that about 90 percent of the biotech companies doing R & D in the state are located right here in metro Atlanta.”

Williams said Emory University, Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, the Medical College of Georgia, the Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia State University and Clark Atlanta University are examples of Georgia universities engaged in significant biotech research. More than 84,000 square feet of incubator space is dedicated to bioscience companies at Georgia’s universities through the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech, EmTech Biotechnology Development Inc. (the joint incubator between Emory and Georgia Tech) and The Georgia BioBusiness Center, among others.

New bioscience facilities in existence or being built at Georgia campuses include: the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences at Georgia Tech, the Whitaker Biomedical Engineering building at Emory and a new bioscience building at Georgia State.

Recruiting top talent is also key, Williams said.

The Georgia Research Alliance -- a public-private partnership between business, Georgia research universities and state government -- has invested more than $400 million for laboratories, equipment and its highly successful Eminent Scholars program.

The Eminent Scholars program, an initiative to recruit top researchers from around the world, has attracted 35 world-renowned scholars in the bioscience field alone. This has leveraged nearly $2 billion in new federal and private funds into the Georgia economy, a return of $5 for every $1 invested.

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