Boston (Boston) -- Massachusetts and Boston officials have announced the return of a major annual biotechnology convention in 2012.
The Internationial Biotechnology Conference is billed as largest biotech gathering in the world.
It was held in Boston in 2007 and will be coming back in 2012.
Organizers say it'll be even bigger and will outgrow the huge South Boston Convention Center, meaning that some of the conference will be nearby at the World Trade Center.
In a statement, organizers point out that state lawmakers passed a life sciences bill in June 2007, but tough fiscal times forced some scaling back of the plan. Of the $1 billion, originally intended to be disbursed over 10 years, half is aimed at capital improvements and borrowing for life sciences facilities.
The other half is a combination of tax credits and competitive grants for life sciences companies. Backers say the bill will help grow jobs in a cutting edge industry and position Massachusetts to be a leader in the sector.
Opponents question the state picking winners and losers among companies and say the often well-funded companies don't need the financial incentives, particularly in a state that boasts a high concentration of academic institutions.
Last week, the board of the state Life Sciences Center, established under the $1 billion legislation, approved a $90 million investment in a $405 million life sciences center at UMass Medical School. Direct construction spending on the center is expected to support about 6,000 jobs and generate over $760 million in total statewide economic activity during the building of the center, according to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board, which approved the $90 million investment, its biggest to date, on Wednesday.
Once fully operational, the center is projected to support 1,600 jobs.
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