facility, 100,000-plus square feet of some of the finest research labs in the u.s., and it will really allow us to expand our groundbreaking work in the areas of oncology and pain, some areas that need help from our patients. if we bring great drugs to our patients and families through the work we do in this building, i think it will have an enormous benefit for everyone. this is not a business. this is not the it industry for the faint of heart. enormous amounts of risk have to be taken in the biotech industry, enormous amounts of human capital and economic capital have to go into building and developing new drugs. it would have a facility that is this content -- when you have a facility that is this competent and well executed, it will work very well. we have been around a number of years and it has evolved into a different company the last three, four years. we're focused entirely on

chemistry and how we can apply that to drugs for cancer and pain. we have been very successful. the pipeline of over 25 drug candidates at various stages of development, and if you look at how we have progressed as a company in biotech, we're probably in the top 20 biotech companies. i think we have made enormous progress, and that comes from the work of our employees. the companies are not based on their technology. companies are not based on their buildings, as a boat as they are. it they are built on that the employees, how hard they work, how loyal they are, how dedicated they are, and what kind of brain power and value they bring to the company. i think we have some of the finest scientists and business people in the bay area working for us and i am very proud of their buddy who has helped us achieve this enormous accomplishment. i want to think a number of

people specifically. i want to thank alexandria properties for allowing us to get this building, the architects, the builders for a spectacular job. the project management for door and a great job keeping everything on track. and i want to thank the actor core team for doing the entire interior design, robert for handling the facility management itself, belly for assisting robert and working on all the different aspects -- billy for assisting robert and working on all the different aspects. john cummings for all the work they did it in the computer area and the i.t. design, and elizabeth for making sure we stayed on budget. and we did. everybody did a tremendous job. it is an example of how the employees of nectar have

excelled at allow us to have this as bardeau. -- as our new home. most importantly, i think mayor newsom for all the work he has done in bringing nectar to this site. if i go back a number of years, when i was a ceo of another company, mayor newsom called me up and said you really should think about moving from colorado to san francisco because we have great opportunities for you. he was absolutely right. we move from boulder, colorado, to mission bay. tremendous success, beautiful laboratories. we ultimately sold the laboratories to merck, and i took over a nectar and essentially got the same call. and appropriately so. mayor newsom has been a visionary. we are here with about 150 employees. we are a growing company. we will be bringing more employees to the site and hiring employees right here in mission bay and san francisco.

i think the mayor for all of his insight and vision -- i think the mayor for all of his insight and vision. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, and welcome. it will come home. i love san carlos. i had a change in my rhetoric a little bit. it is not all about san francisco. it is good to see these clusters of innovation take shape. it is his heart started many years ago. the city and county of of san francisco. we had this great vision of taking this old industrial space, the old shipyard, the old railyard at mission bay and put it together and try to create this biotech park. it was great to get all of the plan is passed. everybody had these old ideas

and visions, and the anchor of that vision. we did not necessarily have the money. we did not necessarily have the companies that interested, because a few years ago, biotech had no interest in being in this area. i had no interest in being in the city and county of san francisco. ithere was a lot of good reason why biotech did not want to come up here. one was the perception that we're not wanted. i keep reminding people, 2005, about the time i called howard in boulder, we recognized in early 2005 we needed to change the way we did business because there was a big biotech conference up here. the board of supervisors, a true story, god is my witness, the board of supervisors passed a resolution condemning the company and commending the

protesters. it was in the newspaper. i remember the time. i got a little bit concerned about gene splicing, all of those things. it was kind of alarming. we had guys dressed up as cornstalks walking around. one might give some consideration, but i think they missed the point. that is not all just about monsanto. it kind of confused all the could not innovation -- a kind of confused all the work that was being done in the industry and we needed a change of perception. we called several people, people like howard on the business side, and with others and said we have to put together a committee here and make a case for the city and county of san francisco and really make a case. it was one thing to create a vision and framework in mission bay, but we have to make it

real. the way we are going, we are in trouble. boston gets it, conn. starts to get it. in that conference, we had the governor from iowa, new zealand, ireland. all of these countries are making the case for biotech. we had to wake up. we worked hard with the commission to change perception. it is one thing to change perception, but we cannot park. even then mission bay that have parking restrictions, transit first. we will not have enough parking spaces. so we changed the parking ratio. they said that is good, but have you ever tried to get a permit and san francisco? good point, and that is when we got guys like totten and michael and jesse together, the chamber of commerce, the development commission, all of these folks. we said we have to put together this and create active zoning

and change the permitting and have somebody who will answer the phone who will navigate the department of building inspection, planning department, etc. finally, we had to address the fourth pace, and that was payroll tax. everybody knows that one differentiator, is across the border, is we charge you for creating jobs. which is remarkable. we should be incentivizing job creation, but we tax it, the payroll tax. the good thing is we don't have a gross receipts tax. don't forget that if you go down to a place like l.a., they may hate you on the other end. we struggled, trust me. the first tax cut in san francisco in well over a decade. this town is famous for tax increases, and we want to the board of supervisors and asked for a tax cut and we got it. it was a very close out the

vote. the sky was on to fall, give " -- big corporate giveaways, everything. we went from one medical device company, claiming it was by attack because we had to feel better, -- claiming it was by attack, because we had to feel better, and we want to 7, 8, then we hit 20, 30. until we hit that magical number of 60. and here we are today, to my enthusiasm today with our 73rd biotech company in san francisco. frum want to 73 in just the last few years. it is something to be enthusiastic about. but it did not just happen. i am not saying it is city hall that makes everything happen. quite the contrary. it went on vacation, people say things seem to be going right.

but it is about changing perception, doing the little things. when a guy calls from the mayor's office climbing to be the mayor and says we care that he can slightly believe it. he believed it enough to come out here. howard is a legend. i don't want to say everything, but we sat in his living room and he said, trust me, this business is tough. you have to make huge investments. sometimes they pay off, sometimes you learn from your failures. it is remarkable to see someone who took cerna overnight from a small company to a huge company that merck bought, and now to see what he has done in just a couple years with nectar is extraordinary. it makes the point, people.

he is absolutely right, all of these fancy buildings, computing taking shape, 2 million square feet, only 1 million left, that is all great to have the physical space, but there is a point that people get why everybody wants to be down here. not just science and biotech companies, but it is people, it is a collaboration, interaction at the fitness center, what you are getting coffee. it is the connections after work and before work that sparks the quality and the imagination that leads to the spirit that defines the best of what ucsf and academia and berkeley and people from all walks of life around the world that work in these companies and elsewhere. that is what we're celebrating. that strength and concentration of human capital. we're celebrating people, and we're celebrating the most

important thing we need to invest in. that is in marked contrast to the travails that ec or the regions have to -- that you see that the regents have to raise tuition again. if we keep doing what we are doing in these colleges, we have to reconcile that. that is my political speech. but it is important. i just want you to know that i don't think there is anything more important than celebrating what we have done to attract some of the best and brightest from around the world to this city and to this region. but we need to also celebrate that proud path by celebrating a commitment to the future, that we redouble those efforts. the next half century will be nothing like the past half

century. i am very proud of howard and his vision and faith and devotion to san francisco and mission-, and these partnerships and elsewhere. i am proud to see the growth of his company and the private sector actually have job descriptions available for people to come in and get tired. -- and get hired. i'm really proud i'm reallyreg -- i am really proud of what reg has done. he recognizes china, san francisco, connecting the dots in india, connecting the dots in china. a big part of the reason we have 73 biotech companies is the work he has done with incubators and all of the incredible to see as some every time you go on a trip with him

in terms of people who start to believe when they spend time with him. i also want to honor his example and leadership today. i know howard knows why he was appointed the decision, and i think most of you do. most of you who may be at home watching channel 26, 10 of you, thank you. but you should know about reg as well. ladies and gentlemen, reg kelly. [applause] >> it is an honor and privilege on behalf of ycsf and the chancellor to walk and nectar to this committee. it is also a pleasant to welcome the second coming up howard. we had something of a royal order of nights, we would have

to give to to him. it may kemp sir sir. one of the questions we have to ask is why do people like howard want to come here? what is so special about this place? we hope it is not just because it is a mission bay neighborhood. we hope it is because it is the mission bay community and at the system. i hope that is true, because that is what we have tried to create. and if we are failing, will lose my job. that is a port that you get that. what we mean by this? -- what do we mean by this? what is a company like nectar looking for from the outside world? you are looking for great ideas from universities and also looking at acquiring up small companies. most major pharmaceutical companies grow acquisitions. what does that their debt when it comes to mission bay? access to ucsf and its faculty

members. that also get access to the mission date incubator, which has 35 companies just across the road. this is a very exciting and very normal, perhaps unique environment. let me just say about these incubators. we have gone from zero in mission-to 35. why? because of the bachus system. when they come here, they are just right across the road from all of the scientific talent, the faculty at mission bay, and we make open to them all of the resources and research facilities that we have. they are open to all of the companies and the incubator. that makes it a nice ecosystem. we're not just neighbors, we are interacting. iwhere do the big companies fit in? if you look at the small companies, what they need is

some sort of advice on how you identify a market opportunity. what is the benefit of bringing this to market? what regulatory hurdles lie face? these young kids and the incubators, the people know all of this stuff. by coming>> there is a fourth pt you need to bring in this. we have been very successful with all of the financial service people, too. why do they come here? the problems of life science, nobody is making any money because things are too risky. by having these companies start in the ecosystem, we're hoping to make sure that since we talked to companies like nectar , you have to sophisticated the

bring the product to market. that makes it attractive for the venture capitalists to come here. we have existing companies and start-ups. there is one thing that is really still missing, and that his government. that is where we have been hearing about this today. one thing we have done is to create an entity which would be a staff person supported by the community and by the city of san prince it is whose job it is to go out and market to the world. and being an interface between the city and the university. we are very happy to launch bio san francisco. we have local government, and

the last thing that is missing is the state government involvement. i have been reading the last couple of days, a draft report looking at the impact of innovation on economic growth and states throughout the union. many of the states are trying to supplant california as one of the leaders of biotechnology. they want to eat our lunch. one of the things that we have to do is evolved a decent innovation policy that governs how biotechnology is going to continue to grow or we will be left behind. whoever comes up with a policy, it has to be an astute in a very frugal one. i think i share all of your feelings on this and if we have to lose gavin, we are glad that

he is going to sacramento. someone with the principals in the track record will be close to power and we will be able to continue to work his magic and help mission they continue to grow and let it be a model for innovation throughout california. [applause] >> i think you will see nectar is here permanently. alexandria properties, as well. we are all excited about the permanence and the growth sector. with that, let's look. [applause]

>> in this fabulously beautiful persidio national park and near golden gate and running like a scar is this ugly highway. that was built in 1936 at the same time as the bridge and at that time the presidio was an army and they didn't want civilians on their turf. and the road was built high. >> we need access and you have a 70 year-old facility that's inadequate for today's transportation needs. and in addition to that, you have the problem that it wasn't for site extenders.

>> the rating for the high viaduct is a higher rating than that collapsed. and it was sapped quite a while before used and it was rusty before installed. >> a state highway through a federal national park connecting an independently managed bridge to city streets. this is a prescription for complication. >> it became clear unless there was one catalyst organization that took it on as a challenge, it wouldn't happen and we did that and for people to advocate. and the project has a

structural rating of 2 out of 100. >> you can see the rusting reinforcing in the concrete when you look at the edges now. the deck has steel reinforcing that's corroded and lost 2/3's of its strength. >> this was accelerated in 1989 when the earthquake hit and cal came in and strengthened but can't bring to standards. to fix this road will cost more than to replace. and for the last 18 years, we have been working on a design to replace the road way, but to do in a way that makes it appropriate to be in a national park and not army post. >> i would say it's one of the most ugly structure, and it's a

barrier between the mar sh and presidio. and this is a place and i brought my dogs and grandchildren and had a picnic lunch and it was memorable to use them when we come here. what would it look like when the design and development is completed. and we are not sure we want an eight lane highway going through this town. and it's a beautiful area in a national seaport area on the planet. >> the road is going to be so different. it's really a park way, and it's a parkway through the

national park. and they make the road disapeer to the national park. >> and the road is about 20 feet lower, normally midday, you go through it in two minutes. looking back from the golden gate bridge to presidio, you are more aware of the park land and less of the roads. and the viaduct will parallel the existing one and to the south and can be built while the existing one remains in operation. and the two bridges there with open space between them and your views constantly change and not aware of the traffic in the opposite direction and notice the views more. and the lanes of course are a

foot wider than they are today. and they will be shoulders and if your car is disabled, you can pull off to the edge. and the next area, the tunnel portal will have a view centered on the palace of fine arts and as you come out, you can see alkatrez island and bay. and the next area is about 1,000 feet long. and when you come into one, you can see through the other end. it's almost like driving through a building than through a tunnel. and noise from the roadway will be sheltered. and the traffic will be out of view. >> when you come out of the last sort tunnel and as you look forward, you see the golden dome of the palace of

fine arts and what more perfect way to come to san francisco through that gateway. >> it will be an amazing transformation. now you read it as one section, the road is a major barrier and then a wonderful strip along the water. all of those things are going to mesh together. >> right now the road really cuts off this area from public access. and with the new road, we will be able to open up the opportunity in a new way. >> this bunker that we see now is out of access for the general public. we are excited to completely rework this side and to open up the magnificent views. and what we want to do is add to this wonderful amenity and

restore this coastal bluff area and respect its military history and the doyle drive project is allowing us to do that recorrection. and this area is not splintered off. >> and we can see how dramatic a change it will be when doyle drive is suppressd and you have a cover that connects the cemetery to this project. it's historic on the statewide and national basis, but you could rush the project or put thought and time to create something of lasting public benefit. >> we really want this, for everyone to feel like it's a win situation. whether you are a