Life sciences jobs growing in Mass, Patrick says

BOSTON (WWLP) - Monday was the first day of an international conference that will attract thousands of scientists from across the globe to Massachusetts.

This week will be peppered with jobs announcements and collaborations between Massachusetts and the world.

More than 15,000 people working in the bio-tech and life sciences industries are expected to attend the International Bio Convention in Boston. The event coincides with the four-year anniversary of a $1 billion life sciences bill signed by Governor Deval Patrick, which promised to create 250,000 jobs over a decade.

A Boston Globe report suggests those projections have fallen short, with the life sciences industry adding nearly 9,000 jobs to date. The governor told 22News that he disagrees.

“Actually I think the number of jobs has exceeded the pace forecast. We’ve had thousands of direct jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs and that was all a part of the original estimate,” Patrick said.

Patrick said he will announce new companies and thousands of new jobs that will be added to Massachusetts in the coming days.

Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) also plans to announce a multinational collaboration on throat cancer detection as well as a major US-EU health conference scheduled for this fall.