Ulyana Desiderio, Director of Life Sciences in the Office of Strategic Industries and Entrepreneurship at the Maryland Department of Commerce, said that the directory is an effective marketing tool for the Maryland life sciences cluster. “Companies can think of the directory and the Office of Life Sciences at Commerce as an extension of their business development team. We are out there every day promoting Maryland and its businesses so it’s helpful to have up-to-date-information about all of our companies so we can promote their assets, too.”
Margia Argüello, the Senior Business Development Manager of Life Sciences, said investors can tap into information about startups or incubators in the directory to see where they can invest their money.
“If a company is trying to find an asset they want to work with, it can be found,” Argüello said. She added that those who use the database can find company information on products, assets in development, where they are in clinical trials and more.
Stefanie Trop, the Manager of Business and Innovation Development at the Office of Life Sciences, said the directory is already benefiting users who are searching for specific information about the sector. As an example, she noted that her office will receive calls seeking information on labs conducting a specific kind of research. Using the directory, they are able to quickly pull up that information.
“The directory is a reliably up-to-date and comprehensive source of information on different types of assets available in Maryland,” Trop said.
Argüello noted that the directory allows for users to “get very granular” within the system as they refine their search to a desired specificity. Office of Life Sciences staff can work with the businesses directly to generate customized reports, if needed.
Not only can investors or companies search for companies and life sciences organizations, the directory also has a place for investors to provide their information in order to make themselves searchable by Maryland’s companies.
“This is of interest to all the different types of organizations included in the directory, whether the user is listed in the directory or not,” Trop said.
